Graeme Miller and Daniel Saul created an hour-long devised piece of theatre to surround a live orchestra playing 8 pieces of space themed contemporary music conducted by Peter Weigold.

A host of low-fi visual effects were created live on stage using found paraphernalia and then projected on a large screen behind the musicians.

The event launched into space with an audiovisual combination of kettledrums being noisily wheeled onto stage and an endless panning shot over dozens of coloured pencils. A cosmos was created through an umbrella perorated by knitting needles, a camera attached to a helium balloon filmed Lore Lixenberg singing from the top of a step ladder, a golf ball moon slowly rotated and eclipsed a stage-light sun, a child held a glass marble earth in her hand and the audience created the constellation of Pegasus with tiny torch lights and gravity was simulated by cherry blossom spinning on an old wind up turntable.

Maderna’s satellite to be serenaded was the ESRO 1B Boreas Satellite, which was recreated live on stage using a cotton reel and needles.

All these experiments and scientific demonstrations were explained to the audience by two NASA scientists from the1960’s, performed by Graeme Miller and Daniel Saul.
 Serenade for a Satellite was performed on the main stage of London’s Barbican Centre and Birmingham’s CBSO hall in 2010.