Ancient Skies

With daniel Wohl in 2025/26

ABOUT

Daniel Wohl, a composer with “a knack for creating electroacoustic pieces that blur the line between electronic and acoustic instrumentation” (WNYC) is writing a new 20- minute electroacoustic work inspired by UFOs, and the cultural phenomena they create.

From the composer This work explores the dialogue between reality and imagination surrounding UFOs, along with the wonder, hope, fear, and conspiracy we associate with them. I began working on this project in July 2023, when a congressional hearing with former US intelligence agent and whistle-blower David Grusch called into question whether the US government was hiding recovered UFOs. Seeing this in every major media outlet, it was hard not to be swept up by a wave of excitement that we may be on the verge of something truly historic. Whether fact or fiction, the event sparked my interest in the history of UFO sightings, a phenomenon that has been documented for centuries, if not millenia.

Perhaps UFOs trigger our latent fantasies, our desire for divine intervention, or our anxiety around humanity’s place in the universe. Perhaps they just inspire playful cultural expressions of media and fiction. In my new work for Hub New Music, Ancient Skies, I examine our relationship to these mysterious and fleeting objects across five moments for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and electronics.

sample program collaborator

Dai Wei, How the Stars Vanish … James Diaz, Lines of acid dreams Angélica Negrón, Pedazos intermittentes de un lugar ya fragmentado Daniel Wohl, Ancient Skies