Post-screening Q&A with artists Malik Gaines and Alexandro Segade and vocalist Kelci Hahn, moderated by Assistant Professor of English at UCLA Summer Kim Lee.

In this cosmic opera by artists Malik Gaines and Alexandro Segade, a starship crew seeks refuge on the hostile planet 85K: Aurora. As the planet defends itself from the crew’s invasive presence, the humans evolve to become a part of a queerly multi-species organism that covers the entire world. Produced by The Industry, an experimental company that expands the operatic form in Los Angeles, this film chronicles Star Choir’s live premiere in fall 2023 at the historic Mt. Wilson Observatory, where an ensemble cast and orchestra performed inside the 100-inch telescope.

Star Choir was performed by vocalists Sarah Beaty, Carmen Edano, Mikaela Elson, Kelci Hahn, Shyheim Selvan Hinnant, Jon Lee Keenan, Ben Lin, and Gregório Taniguchi with instrumentalists Guillermo E. Brown, Elizabeth Huston, Marlon Martinez, Ethan Philbrick, Malik Taylor, and Lucy Yates, conducted by Marc Lowenstein.