Salt Springer Rob James is over the moon about the Galileo’s Daughters concert coming up at ArtSpring on Monday, Oct. 19.

“Very few people in this world (and disturbingly few women) have had asteroids named after them,” says James. “Dava Sobel is one.”

Sobel is also the renowned American author of such best-selling books of popular science as Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter. She teams up with three fine New York musicians to present an unusual evening combining music from the early Baroque played on period instruments with Sobel’s narration about Galileo’s revolutionary scientific discoveries, all accompanied by projected multi-media images of the heavens and the natural world.

The musicians, soprano Sarah Pillow, Mary Anne Ballard on viola da gamba, and Ronn McFarlane on lute and theoboro (bass lute), present a selection of music from both famous composers of the period — Purcell, Frescobaldi, Claudio Monteverdi — as well as obscure ones.

Among the obscure ones is Galileo’s father Vincenzo, a well-known lute maker, mathematician and experimenter in the physical bases of harmony. The reviewer of a recent performance in Wisconsin suggests that: “The piece by Vincenzo Galilei suggests that his gifts may have been in theory rather than composition.”

However, he goes on to say that: “The musicians were outstanding. Although she spoke of her background in modern styles like jazz and blues, Sarah Pillow’s clear soprano perfectly captured the bell-like tones and unearthly tremolos and trills of Renaissance style. Ronn McFarlane impressed with his agility and sensitivity on the lute, and Mary Anne Ballard drew singing beauty and poignant inflection from the viola da gamba.”

“This will be one of ArtSpring’s more unusual and exciting presentations this year,” said executive director George Sipos.

“It will not only broaden our musical experience but serve as a great way to acknowledge 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy. Science and art should not be two solitudes. This journey back to a time when they were closely connected will not only instruct but entertain and inspire as well.”

Tickets for the 8 p.m. performance on Oct. 19 are available from the ArtSpring ticket centre at 250-537-2102. In addition to single ticket prices of $27 for adults, admission at $5 is available for all youth under 18.