UA News

Several local music groups will perform for Biosphere 2 visitors Jan. 25.

In a celebration of the tropical rainforest at The University of Arizona-managed Biosphere 2 will include music-filled tours of the sites.

Termed "Music of the Sphere," the Jan. 25 tours will include performances by the Reveille Men's Chorus and Brazukas, an award-winning guitar duo. The day will also include a Brazilian musical and dance performance by Sambalanço.

Scott Saleska, an assistant professor in the UA's ecology and evolutionary biology department, will provide the introduction to the day's program, which will run from 1 to 4:30 p.m.

Pianist Simone Gorete Machado, in conjunction with UA Saleska, who is also director of Amazon-PIRE, or Partnership for International Research and Education in Amazon-Climate Interactions, will also perform.  

It's the first time such an event has ever been hosted by the Biosphere 2, said Hassan Hijazi, the external affairs director for the scientific research and outreach center.

"We want to make the Biosphere 2 a place for any University partnership," Hijazi said. "We want to be able to show and tell and to display the specialties we have."

The musicians and dancers will move continuously under the dome, performing in various locations.

Paula Fan, a UA Regents' Professor in the School of Music, helped initiate the program with funding from the College of Fine Arts' donor-supported Fund for Excellence provided support for the program.

Tour admission is $20 and will include all performances and a tour of the Biosphere 2. Discounts are available for seniors, students and groups. Half the ticket price qualifies as a tax-deductable charitable contribution.

Fan said there appears to be a divide between the sciences and the arts even though both fields share similarities.

"In many respects, we have parallels" Fan said. "We both do creative work that is inspired by the universe around us."

That is the theme behind the upcoming event.

"This is one way to bridge that great divide," Fan said, adding that the idea to bring music to the Biosphere 2 came from the Biosphere 2 Institute director, Pierre Meystre.

The event is also a way to recognize the importance of the rainforest, she added.

"The rainforest is important in many ways - as they say, they are the lungs of the world," Fan said. "The environment in the rainforest and the Biosphere are special. The business of them possibly disappearing is of great importance."