Lauren Mayer
NCFO Science Festival Chorus Songs by Lauren Mayer
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Lauren Mayer is a California-based, award-winning writer and |
- All About Plants (world premiere, 2018: Web of Life) – The kingdom plantae include all multicellular, eukaryotic, non-mobile organisms that photosynthsize. There are hundreds of thousands of known plant species, ranging from cool to really cool.
[performance audio / performance with slide show / demo] - Awesome Fossils (2009: Naturally Selected) – Fossils of bones, teeth, footprints, leaves, shells, eggs, skin or even scat (poop) tell paleontologists volumes about long-dead creatures.
[performance audio] - Barks, Growls, Whimpers and Howls (world wremiere, 2011: Many Voices) – Communication occurs not only between members of the same species but between species as well. Since canines were first domesticated 15,000 years ago, dogs and humans have communicated with each other to a remarkable extent.
[performance audio / performance video] - Bio, Biodiversity (world premiere, 2018: Web of Life) – Diversity is measured by how much variation is found within a species, how many species are found within a habitat, and how many types of ecosystems there are.
[performance audio / performance with slide show / demo] - Beauty and a Brain (world wremiere, 2011: Many Voices and 2016: Giants of Science) - This 1940s torch song is an homage to Austrian-American actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr (1914 - 2000). Her frequency-hopping system is an important element in today's wireless communication systems, and in 2014 she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
[2016 performance audio / 2016 performance video / demo]
[2011 performance audio / 2011 performance video] - Climate Zones (world premiere, 2017: Singin' of the Rain) – There are many ways to classify the Earth's many climates. They generally fall into three main categories: tropical (near the equator), polar (near the poles) and temperate (between these two).
[performance audio / performance with slide show / demo] - Come and Go (world premiere, 2009: Naturally Selected) – This lovely a cappella ballad was written by Lauren Mayer specifically for Naturally Selected. Extinction is the other side of the evolutionary coin. More than 99.9% of all species that have ever lived are now extinct.
[performance audio] - Copernicus & Kepler (world premiere, 2016: Giants of Science) - A 1950s rock number acclaiming the work of two giants of astronomy: Polish mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 - 1543), who first proposed that the planets orbited the sun; and German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571 - 1630), who derived the laws of planetary motion.
[performance audio / performance video / demo] - Eureka! (world premiere, 2016: Giants of Science) - A commemoration, in the style of a Greek folk song, of the accomplishments of Archimedes (c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC), the great Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer.
[performance audio / performance video / demo] - Faster and Faster (world wremiere, 2011: Many Voices) - Major advances in communication technology used to come centuries apart. Now they arise every few years.
[performance audio / performance video] - Keep Cool (World première, 2013: H2Oratorio) – A rockabilly tribute to perspiration. Evaporation removes much more heat from your body than the same amount of ice-cold water would. Vocal arrangement by David Bass.
[performance audio / performance video / demo] - The Nose Knows (world premiere) – When you ask Lauren to write a song about why humans evolved to perceive certain odors as unpleasant, of course she going to come back with a funk number.
[ performance audio / performance with slide show / demo ] - The Power of How We Feel (world premiere) – Our sense of touch provides practical information that helps us navigate the world, but touching each other also releases hormones that enhance our sense of well-being. This is partly why social distancing during the Time of Covid-19 exacts such an emotional toll on those trying to stay safe from the virus.
[ performance audio / performance with slide show / demo ] - Science Fact & Science Fiction (world premiere, 2019: One Whole Step for Man) – The technology depicted in the 1960s in Star Trek is in some cases prescient and in others ridiculous, but we sometimes can't be completely sure which.
[performance audio / performance with slide show / demo] - Undercover Creatures (2009: Naturally Selected) – Camouflage is a classic adaptation by potential prey to protect themselves from predators, and by predators to make themselves less conspicuous to potential prey. Those who blend in best live to pass their characteristics on to the next generation.
[performance audio] - Water Cycle (2013: H2Oratorio and 2017: Singin' of the Rain) – Water falls as rain and other forms of precipitation, then returns to the sky through evaporation and transpiration. Vocal arrangement by Lauren and David Bass.
[2017 performance audio / 2017 performance with slide show / demo]
[2013 performance audio / 2013 performance with slide show / demo] - We Won’t Get Burned (world premiere, 2015: A Little Light Music) – Ultraviolet light is bad news for our skin, but sunscreen keeps most of it out.
[Peabody performance audio / performance video / demo] - Weird Weather (world premiere, 2017: Singin' of the Rain) – Raining frogs? It has happened when water spouts aspirate aquatic life, which then falls over land.
[performance audio / performance with slide show / demo] - What’s in a Shadow? (world premiere, 2015: A Little Light Music) – No program about light would be complete without a song about the absence of light and its three parts: the umbra (where the light source is completely blocked), the penumbra (where the light source is only partially blocked), and the antumbra (where the
[Broad performance audio / Peabody performance audio / performance video/demo] - Women in Space (world premiere, 2019: One Whole Step for Man) – Although today we think nothing of female astronauts, it's worth remembering that it was once a revolutionary idea, and frustrations remain. Just last month, the first all-female spacewalk had to be reassigned because the International Space Station didn’t have two spacesuits that fit the women.
[performance audio / performance with slide show / demo]
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