The Pre-College Chorus, with pianist Melody Fader (a master’s candidate in collaborative piano), composer Bruce Lazarus and director Rebecca Scott (middle row), and chorus manager Valentin Lanzrein (a master’s candidate in voice, far right). Photo by Howard Kessler

I have been fascinated by stars and galaxies as far back as I can remember. My youthful imagination was fed by a mixture of science fact and fiction: the NASA program, Lost in Space, my first good telescope, the Hayden Planetarium, Star Trek, Messiaen's Éclairs de l'au-delà, Arthur C. Clarke novels. Carl Sagan's blend of hard science and informed speculation was a particular source of fascination when I was a teenager, and three decades later I find his books still resonate profoundly with my sense of connection to distant planets, stars, galaxies, and the universe-a connection that is an ongoing spiritual experience for me, one of awe and wonder.

My long-term romance with space has often sparked my music. As a 1972-79 Juilliard student, studying composition with Andrew Thomas and Vincent Persichetti, I composed numerous pieces with titles such as Starry Messenger and Magic Sky. More recently, part of my Ph.D. dissertation for Rutgers University was a symphony titled Terrestrial, Celestial. The Storm King Music Festival in Cornwall, N.Y., has presented my Alpha Centuri (2000) for harpsichord quartet and Ordinary Stars (2002) for piano.

Last year, I was privileged to compose a choral work for Rebecca Scott and the Juilliard Pre-College Chorus. StarSongs-a 20-minute cantata on astronomical themes for youth chorus, flute, cello, and harp (largely inspired by outer space imagery found in Carl Sagan's early writings)-was premiered April 2002 in Paul Hall on the chorus's spring concert. Now my second work for them-inLight, a setting of traditional and modern Hanukkah texts, sung in English and Hebrew-will be performed by the chorus on Saturday, December 7, at 6 p.m. in Paul Hall.

Eager to impart literal voice to space music, I was fortunate to hear this remarkable young ensemble perform several times between 1999 and 2002 at the Juilliard Theater and Paul Hall. Each time I was struck by the chorus's focus, vocal blend, and diction, as well as the sheer variety and difficulty of the music they were performing. I knew I had to compose a cycle of "star songs" for this group, an ambitious work that would exploit the contrast between youthful, naïve-sounding voices and the immensity, complexity, and dynamism of the cosmos.

"These kids are extra special," Rebecca Scott-who founded the Pre-College Chorus in 1968-says with pride. "They aren't voice majors, though some of them could be. They are accomplished pianists, flutists, violinists, and they spend an amazing number of hours practicing. As a result, they have an adult attention span, and many of them have absolute pitch."

Working with Scott and these great kids nearly every Saturday morning this past spring was one of my most enjoyable experiences of the 2001-2002 season. The students' enthusiasm was infectious, and they maintained a fearless attitude toward the difficulties in my score. They took singing C naturals against the flute's sustained C sharp in their stride, and never blinked at my uneven 11-beat phrases-all indicators pointing to a musical sophistication far beyond their years.

Pre-College Chorus Paul Hall Saturday, Dec. 7, 6 p.m. This event is free; no tickets are required.

"Aside from overcoming technical difficulties in intonation, rhythm, and diction," continues Scott, "they know that, to truly perform music, you must understand it from the composer's point of view-what a composer means at deep levels-transcending the printed notes to get at the inner meaning. Performing music composed specifically for the Pre-College Chorus has been a regular feature of our concerts from the beginning. Over the years, we've collaborated with several composers-Andrew Thomas, Eric Ewazen, Scott Eyerly, and Larry Bell, to name only a few. Having the composer on hand, seeing how composer and conductor work together, witnessing how music gets made, is an experience of inestimable value for our students."

The young musicians seemed to enjoy StarSongs. The astronomy theme captured their imagination, perhaps motivating a few of them to think about our tiny planet and contemplate its place in the universe for the first time. And in the hallway after rehearsals, I often heard them singing or humming their favorite phrases. Apparently StarSongs stuck with them, heart and mind-which (in my opinion) is the essence of musical communication.

Currently, the Pre-College Chorus is hip-deep in rehearsals of inLight-in addition to works by Buxtehude and Prokofiev-for their ambitious December 7 winter concert in Paul Hall. inLight is a short Hanukkah cantata which uses the image of light as a metaphor for enlightenment, purification, faith, peace, and love. There are settings of two traditional Hebrew blessings: the candle lighting and the all-purpose "thank you for bringing us to this joyous occasion," plus an English text written by cultural anthropologist Sarah Keene Meltzoff.

But at the end of a recent Saturday's jam-packed rehearsal, Rebecca Scott was already thinking about the Pre-College Chorus's spring 2003 concert. "What's next?" she asked me. I suggested possibly setting some of Meltzoff's poetry based on her experiences of the Solomon Islands people and their worship of ancestral spirits. The music of the Solomons is unusual-especially those panpipes designed to play only harmonic major seconds (like the first notes of "Chopsticks"). "We could have some students playing penny whistles to imitate this particular sound, with others playing various gourds and pan drums, maybe even their major instrument," I mused. She laughed. "Will there be any students left to sing?" Of course!

Bruce Lazarus (B.M. '78, M.M. '79) is a composer based in New York City and Miami. He may be contacted at spacemusic2k@yahoo.com.