Northern Lights: Grant Park Music Festival

See the world premiere of "The Legend of the Northern Lights" by Grammy-nominated composer Christopher Theofanidis, inspired by the children's story on the origins of the aurora borealis. Journey to the arctic with awe-inspiring images by astronomer Dr. José Francisco Salgado shown on a state-of-the-art screen.

Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Friday, August 8, 2014, 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Saturday, August 9, 2014, 7:30pm – 9:30pm

Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, Conductor

Rachmaninov: Symphony No.2
Theofanidis: The Legend of the Northern Lights (World Premiere)
Program Notes PDF
Friday's concert will be broadcast live on 98.7WFMT and streamed online at wfmt.com.

Adler Planetarium staff will be on hand in the SE corner of the Great Lawn each night with fun activities for the whole family. Learn more at adlerplanetarium.org!

Traverse City, Michigan, October 2013

Traverse City, Michigan, October 2013, a set on Flickr.

Photos from a short vacation to Saugatuck and Traverse City, Michigan where we saw nature, empty beaches, and the Northern Lights.

We also wandered around the abandoned Traverse City State Hospital and took some photos there. Part of it has been rehabbed into a 100,000 sq ft mixed use building holding artist galleries, local retail shops and the wonderful Trattoria Stella in the basement, with offices and residential space on the upper floors.

Northern Lights and the Perseid Meteor Shower

Update! The aurora forecast has just been updated to include Wednesday and Thursday nights as high activity!

The Sun is waking up to give us aurora and we are blessed with a large meteor shower around the time of the new moon! A good week!

First, the aurora borealis (Northern Lights). When a large coronal mass ejection (CME) occurred on Sunday, astronomers first predicted that it would have little or no effect upon us Earthlings. Yesterday, they said they were wrong, and that we would in fact be passing through a good chunk of the charged particles streaking through the heavens. Presto! Northern Lights!