Excelsior and Breaking the Sound Barrier

If you haven't heard yet, this weekend, Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier and the world record for longest skydiving record.

Yes, you read that right!  In a pressurize suit, he rode 128,100 feet (24.26 miles) straight up in a capsule attached to a balloon, and then he jumped out!  He reached a top speed of 833.9 miles per hour and broke the sound barrier by reaching Mach 1.24.

Why is this relevant on the 5HE Blog, you might wonder?  Keep reading!

Caught: The Wide Open, part two of our 2012-2013 signature series features a world premiere chamber opera piece, Excelsior, written for 5HE by composer Caleb Burhans which will also feature guest artists itsnotyouitsme and Martha Cluver.

Excelsior's story?  Air Force Colonel Joseph Kittinger's 24 mile free fall.  The world record that Baumgartner just broke!

We were excited last week when we received the score and parts for Excelsior from Caleb, but now we're through the moon excited (pun intended!) now that our new piece is directly related to this amazing current world news!

You can find more info about Caught: The Wide Open here, and for the schedule of performances, click here.

Image and video found here.