IF you were one of the thousands – millions, internationally – who gazed in wonder as the moon eclipsed the sun in mid-August, it may have stirred deep thoughts about our small part in the cosmos, and the impact space has on human existence and culture.

This year’s Constellation Symposium at Springhead, Fontmell Magna, from 28th October to 1st November, looks at the connections between space, music and place.

Artists from various disciplines will be working on projects including an installation by a leading international sound and light artist and a composition inspired by a Dorset folk song. These will be part of the programme for the public day, on Sunday 1st November.

The artist in residence will be Henk Schut, a Dutch multi-disciplinary artist who works at the intersection of sound, visual art, technology and the natural environment. During the symposium he will be adapting his installation, Listen to the Earth and It Will Speak, specifically for Springhead.

Prach Boondiskolchuk will bring contemporary music and Dorset folk song together, including a new setting of The Sprig of Thyme, one of the songs collected by Cecil Sharp. He will be performing on the public day with young singers from the Constellation Academicians, with the symposium curator and international harpist Gwyneth Wentink, and conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

French scientist Bernard Foing will give a talk on the theme Space Renaissance, Music and Land. Based at the European Space Agency, Foing is executive director of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group and was principal project scientist for SMART-1, the first European mission to the Moon.

Taking place appropriately over that most mysterious and spiritual of times – Hallowe’en, All Saints Day and All Souls Day – this year’s symposium, Music, the Land and the Cosmos, involves musicians, scientists, artists, philosophers and environmental thinkers, exploring the role of music as a bridge between the different disciplines and thinking about humanity and our place in the universe.

The symposium takes place at Springhead, a rural centre for creative and sustainable living in Fontmell Magna, and is organised by Springhead Constellation.

For more information visit the website www.springheadconstellation.com