Earth Music Theater Live

The Smith Office for the Arts (SOFA) presents a special Smith performance of Earth Music Theater Live with Steve Thomas and Sharing Space with Cady Coleman on March 26, 2025. The free event will take place at 7 p.m. in the Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall at Smith College. A multidisciplinary program combining the unforgettable experience of astronaut-captured visuals from the International Space Station and Thomas’ genre straddling Guitarscapes and Folktales and Fusions music. Former NASA astronaut Cady Coleman will be sharing videos and inspiring stories from her book Sharing Space, An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder and Making Change. A cinematic, multimedia, educational experience, designed to provoke thinking about the whole Earth and planetary stewardship.

The show concept is a collaboration of musician and Northampton resident Steve Thomas, and Earth movie maker Dan Barstow, Education Mission Specialist with the Association of Space Explorers with support from the astronauts for their stunning space photography. January 17, 2025 marked the launch of Earth Music Theater Live with Steve Thomas –a cinematic multisensory experience that was performed before a mesmerized audience in The Workroom at 33 Hawley Street, Northampton, MA. Author, Astronaut Cady Coleman joins world-class musicians Steve Thomas guitar/sound design; Chris Cheek, Alto sax; Carl Clements, Bansuri and Alto Flutes and Amherst College faculty; Clare Arenius, drums, Smith Music Instructor; and Josh Metz, double bass to present a unique experience of music, space imagery, and stories.

Steve Thomas is a music/tech marketing veteran and multifaceted musician (guitarist, composer, audio engineer/producer). He crafts audio and music for artists, institutions and creatives working in all forms of media. He particularly enjoys engaging in art and education projects that are out to do good in the World. Some of these projects include work with environmental health scientist, Dr. Sally Edwards and the Persistent and Pervasive podcast series; Poetry in Motion Group at the Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children; years of collaboration with New York Times Film Critic Pick composer/producer Ruth Mendelson on projects for the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI).

Cady Coleman is a former NASA Astronaut and a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel with more than 180 days in space, accumulated during two space shuttle missions and a six-month expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) as the Lead Robotics and Lead Science officer. Cady served in a variety of roles within the Astronaut Office, including Chief of Robotics, and lead astronaut for integration and operation of supply ships from NASA’s commercial partners. Before retiring from NASA, she led open-innovation and public-private partnership efforts for NASA’s Chief Technologist. Cady's book, Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Making Change was published by Penguin. She and her family were also recently featured in two documentaries, PBS’s Space: The Longest Goodbye, and The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station.

This free community event is sponsored by EarthMusicTheater.org, Association of Space Explorers, the Smith Office For the Arts and the NASA funded Math Resilient Students (MaRS) at Smith College.