Joi Barua Joins NASA-Aligned Musical Project ‘Cosmic Rhapsody’

Indian singer-composer Joi Barua has joined Cosmic Rhapsody, an international orchestral and multimedia project that brings together astrophysics, music and performing arts, with the initiative connected to NASA’s COSI mission.

The project, created by storytelling and songwriting duo Susan Lim and Christina Teenz Tan, features French composer Manu Martin as the chief composer, orchestrator and arranger of the orchestral work.

Barua has composed melodies for two key songs in the project , Star Among the Cosmic Clouds and Confetti Storm. He has also co-composed Confetti Star-Ion with Martin.

The collaboration draws inspiration from the science of supernovae and the creation of elements essential to life. NASA’s COSI mission, led by principal investigator John Tomsick at the University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, is focused on studying soft gamma rays to understand where elements such as iron and aluminium are produced in stellar explosions.

Speaking about the project, Barua said that contributing as an Indian composer to a project partnering with NASA’s COSI mission was a humbling experience, adding that the collaboration demonstrates how science and imagination can come together through the performing arts.

Cosmic Rhapsody is envisioned as an immersive experience combining live symphonic music, cinematic animation and pop songs. Its narrative follows a human and an AI travelling into space in search of solutions to Earth’s environmental challenges.

The project is also significant for Barua on a personal level, with animator and director Samudra Kajal Saikia, who is also from Assam, contributing to the visual dimension of the project. Barua said the collaboration marked a special moment for two artists from Assam to contribute to a global, NASA-aligned creative project.

The project is set to have its US premiere at the Hollywood Bowl on July 27, 2027, presented with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. This will be followed by the orbital launch of NASA’s COSI mission from Cape Canaveral.

Barua is known for his work as a singer, composer and vocal arranger, with credits across films including Dev.D, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Margarita with a Straw and Laila Majnu. He also lent his voice to the popular track O Meri Laila from Laila Majnu.