The Moons
A Creative Collaboration Contest
The Spartanburg Philharmonic will be premiering a new orchestral work by Composer-in-Residence Dr. Peter B. Kay on April 26, 2025, based on moons from our solar system. We are searching for student creative writing submissions to be featured alongside the piece and read from the stage during the premiere performance. Five students (one selection per moon) from the Spartanburg area will be chosen.
“The Moons” Contest Highlights
The Prompt
Imagine you are an explorer from the distant future, traveling through the solar system. Or perhaps, consider you are a scientist receiving transmissions from a robotic probe sent to these moons. Each moon you study has its own unique environment, history, and mysteries. Your mission is to document your experiences and the stories you uncover on these moons. Choose one* of the moons below and create a narrative, story, or poem that captures the essence of your chosen moon.
Explore your chosen moon
First, understand your chosen moon. Each of the 5 moons has a different story, name, and specific quality about them. Explore the links below, learn more about each celestial body, read additional articles & stories about the Greek mythological figures, and look at the pictures of your chosen moon. Then, use your findings to help guide your creative process. As Gustav Holst composed “The Planets” suite in 1916, we know he took into consideration how each planet in our solar system would “sound”, and based his music on his research of each planet.
*The two moons of Mars (Phobos & Deimos) have been grouped together as they share several similarities including their mythological stories.
The Timeline
Submission Deadline: November 19, 2024
Announcement Date: November 25, 2024
“First Listen” Music Preview for Winners: February 2025
Concert Premiere: April 26, 2025
The Parameters:
Open to K-12 students attending a Spartanburg county school.
the work must be a narrative, poem, or story
Able to be spoken aloud in about 2 minutes
250-350 maximum words
(for narrative or story)Introduces the moon and/or its Greek mythological namesake to the audience in a creative way
Helps guide what the music will sound like as Dr. Kay composes the piece
Examples using the moon Europa, a frozen moon orbiting Jupiter:
Research tells us that the moon Europa is orbiting Jupiter and is frozen. Frozen = water. Water = Life??? But, frozen also means far from the sun. Looking back at the prompt, we took into consideration the story behind the name Europa, the characteristics of the moon, and created the following:
Example of narrative story using Europa:
“As I descended towards Europa's glistening surface, my heart raced with a mix of fear and excitement. The moon's icy crust shimmered under the distant sunlight, and I could see the intricate patterns of cracks and ridges that hinted at the ocean beneath. My mission was clear: to uncover the secrets hidden within Europa's frozen shell. As I landed and prepared to drill through the ice, I couldn't help but wonder what extraordinary discoveries awaited me in the dark, unexplored waters below..."
Example of poetry using Europa:
Beneath the ice, where secrets sleep,
Europa's heart beats cold and deep.
A world of wonder, dark and vast,
In frozen silence, shadows cast.
The surface glows with ancient scars,
A web of cracks, like shattered stars.
Beneath, an ocean, deep and wide,
In alien depths, where mysteries hide.
What dreams are dreamt in icy night,
What creatures swim beyond our sight?
In liquid realms, where life might gleam,
Europa holds a distant dream.
TITAN
Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is a colossal and intriguing world, second only to Ganymede in size among the moons of the solar system. Its dense atmosphere, rich in nitrogen, is remarkably similar to Earth's, creating a thick orange haze that blankets its surface. Titan’s landscape features rivers and lakes of liquid methane and ethane, along with vast, sand-covered plains, echoing the diverse geography of Earth. Beneath its crust lies a vast subsurface ocean, possibly harboring the conditions for life.
Titan is named after the Titans - the pre-Olympian gods. Just as the Titans were the forebears of the Greek pantheon, shaping the world in their image, Saturn's Titan looms as a world of immense power and potential, echoing the raw and ancient forces that shaped the early Earth.
PHOBOS & DEIMOS
Phobos and Deimos, the two moons of Mars, are dark, battered worlds, their surfaces marked by deep scars from prehistoric impacts. These moons, with their irregular shapes and pitted surfaces, are believed to be captured asteroids, pulled into Mars' orbit long ago, now forever chained to the planet. Their appearance reflects the fear and dread embodied by their namesakes, Phobos and Deimos, the Greek gods of fear and terror, who accompanied their father Ares (the Ancient Greek equivalent to the Roman god Mars) into battle.
METIS
Metis, Jupiter's innermost moon, is a tiny, fast-moving celestial body that orbits closer to the gas giant than any other of its moons. It speeds around Jupiter, completing an orbit in just under 7 hours—faster than the planet's own rotation. This swiftness is reminiscent of the moon’s namesake, the Oceanid nymph Metis, a daughter of the Titans, who in Greek mythology was known for her cunning and agility. She was also the first wife of Zeus (the Ancient Greek equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter).
IO
Io, one of Jupiter's largest moons, is a world of intense volcanic activity and a surface constantly in flux. Its landscape is a mixture of molten lava, sulfur plains, and towering plumes, making it the most geologically active body in the solar system. This chaotic landscape mirrors the tumultuous story of its namesake, Io, the priestess of Hera in Greek mythology. Like the moon, Io’s life was marked by upheaval; she was caught in a stormy relationship with Zeus (the Ancient Greek equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter), who pursued her relentlessly, inciting Hera’s jealousy and wrath. Just as the mortal Io was caught between Zeus and Hera, the moon Io endures constant turmoil due to the intense gravitational interactions with Jupiter and its neighboring moons.
TRITON
Triton, Neptune's largest moon, is a frigid and mysterious world, dominated by extremely cold temperatures that plunge close to absolute zero. Its vast icy surface is marked by cryovolcanoes and frozen plains, making it one of the coldest places in our solar system. Beneath its frozen crust lies a liquid water mantle, hinting at the potential for a dynamic interior. What sets Triton apart is its unusual retrograde orbit - unlike most moons, Triton orbits Neptune in the opposite direction of the planet's rotation, which suggests it may be a captured object from the Kuiper Belt.
This backward orbit and icy demeanor echo the traits of its mythological namesake, Triton, the Herald and son of Poseidon (the Ancient Greek equivalent of the Roman god Neptune). Triton, the sea god, wielded a conch shell like a trumpet to calm or stir the oceans while navigating the deepest depths of the sea. Just as the god Triton is depicted as a formidable figure, the moon Triton embodies a complex and powerful presence in Neptune’s system.