Remarkable film sequences from the celebrated BBC/Discovery television series, shown on giant screens, with George Fenton's original score performed by full orchestra and choir.

This year marks the 40^th anniversary of the explorations of Apollo 11. I am sure many here tonight still remember looking up at that night sky on that July 20^th in wonder at the thought of men walking on the surface of the moon. In many ways the Apollo program taught us more about the earth than it ever did about that shiny disk in the night sky. Some years later, Apollo 17 took that now famous picture of the earth from space, which came to be known as the “blue marble.” It is from space that we see the most distinctive feature of the earth: its color. Tonight’s program, Blue Planet Live!, is a celebration the mystery, beauty, and wonder of our planet’s oceans. What you are about to see here at Wolf Trap is the result of over 7,000 hours of film and video, filmed in over 200 locations over five years. This is no ordinary nature documentary—many of the images here were first observed by humans as they were filmed for this program. It is a true collaboration between the art of film and music, and they are equal partners in a way that has not existed before. Composer George Fenton has written a score that perfectly compliments the film. These various moments not only tell a story of underwater life but also allow you to become part of the story—like swimming with a school of sardines and trying to avoid becoming a snack for Common dolphins, or observing gigantic predator killer whales preying on seals relaxing on the beach. This is every bit as thrilling (or, in the case of the Jaws-like killer whales, chilling) as a Steven Spielberg movie. You can join in the underwater ballet of George Fenton’s lilting Ravel-inspired dance in the scene about the seemingly supernatural life along a coral reef. This evening gives us much to be hopeful about—we have finally come to the realization that the earth is a precious resource for us all. It is because of visionaries and nature lovers like John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt that we are able to sit here tonight in this beautiful national park devoted to the arts. We are indebted to modern day Roosevelts such as Nobel laureate Al Gore, Blue Planet’s director Alastair Fothergill, and Blue Planet’s narrator David Attenborough, who remind us once again that how we treat the oceans and the life therein will in turn be the ultimate reflection on our species of “land lubbers.” Forty years ago this summer NASA gave us a great gift—that of the endless possibilities that await mankind in the far reaches of space. Tonight we are reminded with equal wonder and amazement of that unseen world just beyond the water’s surface.

—Emil de Cou, NSO@Wolf Trap Festival Conductor