An audience of over 1,000 kids (and kids at heart) sang, laughed, and cheered for the San Diego Symphony and WindSync, who gave the world-premiere performance of my new piece, Space Junk, a Symphonic Children’s Story, on April 11, 2026. The project was two years in the making, and started when the WindSync team reached out to me looking for an alternative to their Peter and the Wolf arrangement. It just so happened San Diego Symphony was also looking for something new for young audiences. We all hopped on a zoom call and I shared Space Junk, a children’s story that I wrote ten years ago about a little star who gets covered in floating space debris, makes her way out, and turns the scattered junk into something beautiful. I had previously set this story to music for percussion, but the team agreed this was the story they were looking for, and asked me to create a new work for orchestra featuring WindSync. The piece features narration, theatrics, props, and audience participation including singing and clapping along (we got a group of 1,000 kids to sing and clap in rhythm!)
Every aspect of the project was cared for in such a detailed way by the musicians and SDSO admin team, and this all coincided with the Artemis II landing, which made the premiere even more magical. Thank you, Gerald Karni for your wonderful baton, Becky Joy Aitken for your beautiful illustrations, and everyone at WindSync and SDSO for bringing this project to life (Laura Reynolds and Stephen Salts in particular!) The score and part rentals will be available soon.
Space Junk Illustrations by Becky Aitken