Bach, the Universe and Everything: Mission to Mars

Professor Sanjeev Gupta from Imperial College London, and part of NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover mission, will speak about the landscapes and exploration of Mars, and the question of life.

Bach’s cantata Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott (Fortunate the person who upon his God), BWV 139, encourages us to reject earthly things in favour of more heavenly aspirations.

“My daughter can’t believe I get paid to look at pictures of rocks on Mars, but that’s what I do!”

Sanjeev Gupta

Bach, the Universe and Everything is our concert series with a difference. Guided by the work of JS Bach, composer and intergalactic genius, our mission is to explore the human desire to better understand our place in the cosmos through his 200 cantatas. Each concert is built around a Bach cantata and a talk from a guest scientific speaker, alongside choral and instrumental music by other baroque and renaissance composers.

Series music director: Steven Devine