The Book of Fixed Stars

The Book of Fixed Stars is an exploration of the night sky, written for Colin Hochstetler. The piece invites two or more accordionists, spread around a given space, to construct a sonic environment using information from a given star chart. The Book of Fixed Stars lends its name to a star catalog written by Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi in 964. Al-Sufi wrote the book as an update to Ptolemy’s Almagest (2nd century), with updated information and more constellations. Additionally, al-Sufi measured the stars’ brightnesses, and categorized them into three categories (“less,” “greater,” and “much greater”). The Arabic title, كتاب صور الكواكب, literally translates to “The Book of the Shapes of Stars”—the phrase “Fixed Stars” comes from Hans Schjellerup’s 1874 translation, Description des étoiles fixes par Abd-al-Rahman al-Sûfi.

Performed at the Staerkel Planetarium, Parkland College, Champaign, IL, February 22, 2026. Dome visuals by Waylena McCully. Recorded by Greg Pluta.