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What is the story about?
Popular Indian singer-composer Joi Barua has embarked on an international collaboration that brings together NASA astrophysics and performing arts, contributing melodies to two songs inspired by the wonder of the cosmos.
The initiative connects NASA’s COSI (Compton Spectrometer and Imager) mission, led by principal investigator John Tomsick at the University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, with the global orchestral and multimedia project Cosmic Rhapsody.
Created by storytelling and songwriting duo Susan Lim and Christina Teenz Tan, Cosmic Rhapsody features French composer Manu Martin as its chief composer, orchestrator and arranger for the orchestral work.
Barua, who hails from Assam, has contributed to films including Agent Vinod, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, DevD, Munna Bhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munna Bhai as a playback singer, vocal arranger and background singer. He has also sung the radio version of the popular song “O Meri Laila” from the 2018 film Laila Majnu.
In 2014, Barua composed a song for Shonali Bose’s film Margarita with a Straw.
Connecting music with astrophysics
Barua said India has a deep cultural reverence for both the cosmos and music, alongside scientific achievements through ISRO.
“To contribute as an Indian composer to a project partnering with NASA’s COSI mission is humbling. It sends a message to young dreamers across India: logic and imagination belong together. When you unite science and the performing arts, your canvas becomes the universe itself,” he said.
Cosmic Rhapsody is conceived as an immersive performing arts experience combining live symphonic scoring, cinematic animation and pop songs. Its story follows a fictional partnership between a human and an AI travelling into space in search of planetary solutions to Earth’s environmental crisis.
According to Barua, during a visit to the Space Sciences Laboratory, the creators found that two songs from the project — “Star Among the Cosmic Clouds” and “Confetti Storm” — shared scientific ground with NASA’s COSI mission.
The songs centre on a dying star exploding and showering stardust back towards Earth, while COSI investigates soft gamma rays to map how supernovae synthesise the chemical elements of life.
“John Tomsick and the COSI team are launching a space telescope to trace soft gamma rays and map the exact stellar factories where elements like iron and aluminium are born. To know that our songs — born out of pure emotion and poetry — reflect the actual astrophysics of nucleosynthesis validated our entire collaboration,” Barua said.
Barua's role in Cosmic Rhapsody
Barua stressed that Cosmic Rhapsody was created by Lim and Tan, with Martin serving as the chief composer, orchestrator and arranger of the orchestral work.
“My specific contribution was composing the melodies for two pivotal songs: ‘Star Among the Cosmic Clouds’ and ‘Confetti Storm’, and co-composing ‘Confetti Star-Ion’ with Manu Martin. Working within this global creative framework has been an extraordinary journey,” Barua told PTI.
He described Lim as the driving lyrical and narrative force behind the songs. According to Barua, she explored the idea that a star must sacrifice its existence in a supernova so its elements can scatter and seed new worlds.
“That imagery of stardust raining down as celebratory confetti gave me an emotional launchpad. In my melodies, I didn't treat the explosion as a tragedy, but as a euphoric act of creation,” he said.
Barua also described his collaboration with Martin on “Confetti Star-Ion” as a “masterclass in musical fusion”.
“Martin created the sonic bridge that moves listeners from authentic mission control transmissions straight into an explosive symphonic pop climax, capturing the physical sensation of an ionized cosmic shockwave,” he said.
A connection between two Assamese artistes
For Barua, one of the most meaningful aspects of the project has been his creative collaboration with Samudra Kajal Saikia, an animator and director behind the visuals who also hails from Assam.
“To have two artistes from Assam shaping the auditory and visual soul of a global, NASA-aligned project is truly special. While I was building melodic arcs to celebrate the exploding star, Samudra was translating those exact musical dynamics frame-by-frame into vivid, swirling colours of cosmic stardust. It's a wonderful cultural milestone for our home state on an international stage,” Barua said.
Hollywood Bowl premiere and COSI mission
The collaboration is set to culminate in two landmark launches.
The US premiere of Cosmic Rhapsody is scheduled for July 27, 2027, at the Hollywood Bowl, presented with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and featuring pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
This will be followed by the orbital launch of NASA’s COSI mission from Cape Canaveral.
The initiative connects NASA’s COSI (Compton Spectrometer and Imager) mission, led by principal investigator John Tomsick at the University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, with the global orchestral and multimedia project Cosmic Rhapsody.
Created by storytelling and songwriting duo Susan Lim and Christina Teenz Tan, Cosmic Rhapsody features French composer Manu Martin as its chief composer, orchestrator and arranger for the orchestral work.
Barua, who hails from Assam, has contributed to films including Agent Vinod, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, DevD, Munna Bhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munna Bhai as a playback singer, vocal arranger and background singer. He has also sung the radio version of the popular song “O Meri Laila” from the 2018 film Laila Majnu.
In 2014, Barua composed a song for Shonali Bose’s film Margarita with a Straw.
Connecting music with astrophysics
Barua said India has a deep cultural reverence for both the cosmos and music, alongside scientific achievements through ISRO.
“To contribute as an Indian composer to a project partnering with NASA’s COSI mission is humbling. It sends a message to young dreamers across India: logic and imagination belong together. When you unite science and the performing arts, your canvas becomes the universe itself,” he said.
Cosmic Rhapsody is conceived as an immersive performing arts experience combining live symphonic scoring, cinematic animation and pop songs. Its story follows a fictional partnership between a human and an AI travelling into space in search of planetary solutions to Earth’s environmental crisis.
According to Barua, during a visit to the Space Sciences Laboratory, the creators found that two songs from the project — “Star Among the Cosmic Clouds” and “Confetti Storm” — shared scientific ground with NASA’s COSI mission.
The songs centre on a dying star exploding and showering stardust back towards Earth, while COSI investigates soft gamma rays to map how supernovae synthesise the chemical elements of life.
“John Tomsick and the COSI team are launching a space telescope to trace soft gamma rays and map the exact stellar factories where elements like iron and aluminium are born. To know that our songs — born out of pure emotion and poetry — reflect the actual astrophysics of nucleosynthesis validated our entire collaboration,” Barua said.
Barua's role in Cosmic Rhapsody
Barua stressed that Cosmic Rhapsody was created by Lim and Tan, with Martin serving as the chief composer, orchestrator and arranger of the orchestral work.
“My specific contribution was composing the melodies for two pivotal songs: ‘Star Among the Cosmic Clouds’ and ‘Confetti Storm’, and co-composing ‘Confetti Star-Ion’ with Manu Martin. Working within this global creative framework has been an extraordinary journey,” Barua told PTI.
He described Lim as the driving lyrical and narrative force behind the songs. According to Barua, she explored the idea that a star must sacrifice its existence in a supernova so its elements can scatter and seed new worlds.
“That imagery of stardust raining down as celebratory confetti gave me an emotional launchpad. In my melodies, I didn't treat the explosion as a tragedy, but as a euphoric act of creation,” he said.
Barua also described his collaboration with Martin on “Confetti Star-Ion” as a “masterclass in musical fusion”.
“Martin created the sonic bridge that moves listeners from authentic mission control transmissions straight into an explosive symphonic pop climax, capturing the physical sensation of an ionized cosmic shockwave,” he said.
A connection between two Assamese artistes
For Barua, one of the most meaningful aspects of the project has been his creative collaboration with Samudra Kajal Saikia, an animator and director behind the visuals who also hails from Assam.
“To have two artistes from Assam shaping the auditory and visual soul of a global, NASA-aligned project is truly special. While I was building melodic arcs to celebrate the exploding star, Samudra was translating those exact musical dynamics frame-by-frame into vivid, swirling colours of cosmic stardust. It's a wonderful cultural milestone for our home state on an international stage,” Barua said.
Hollywood Bowl premiere and COSI mission
The collaboration is set to culminate in two landmark launches.
The US premiere of Cosmic Rhapsody is scheduled for July 27, 2027, at the Hollywood Bowl, presented with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and featuring pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
This will be followed by the orbital launch of NASA’s COSI mission from Cape Canaveral.
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