Skip to main content
BGSU homeCalendar home
Event Detail

The Moon Speakers Series - Between Selene and Luna: Operatic Incantations to the Moon

Thursday, April 3, 2025 7:30–8:30 PM
  • Location
    BGSU Planetarium in the Physical Sciences Laboratory Building, 112
  • Description
    Join us in the Planetarium for a public talk titled Between Selene and Luna: Operatic Incantations to the Moon, presented by Dr. Eftychia Papanikolaou, Associate Professor, BGSU College of Musical Arts.Music from the Western art tradition (what we commonly call “classical”) has often relied on moon imagery to express and enhance its auditory potential—take, for instance, Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, or Debussy’s Clair de lune. Predictably, the moon occupies a special place in opera: it has been a symbol of moonstruck lovers; the source and reference of women’s “lunacy”; and it has inspired a plethora of prayers, songs, and incantations for guidance, support, solace, and reconciliation.In this multimedia presentation we will experience how the moon has been depicted by composers, librettists, singers and stage directors, who for centuries have waxed—and waned—poetic about that “divine goddess” of the firmament.This program is one of six sessions hosted by the BGSU Planetarium on a wide range of interdisciplinary topics, each with a connection to astronomy. Programs in the series will be every Thursday evening starting March 13 and running through April 17. “The Moon Speakers Series” events are free and open to the public.This talk will also be available to livestream via zoom at https://bgsu-edu.zoom.us/j/4287586258
  • Website
    https://events.bgsu.edu/event/the-moon-speakers-series-between-selene-and-luna-operatic-incantations-to-the-moon

More from All