Adam Young - Project Excelsior (2016)

In 2005, Scottish electronic duo Boards of Canada released a music video featuring footage from Joe Kittinger’s famous parachute jump in 1960. That was my introduction to Project Excelsior, a series of high altitude jumps made by Kittinger from the edge of space with the purpose of testing parachute systems intended to be used by pilots ejecting from high altitude. In one of these jumps, Kittinger set world records for the highest parachute jump, the longest drogue fall and the fastest speed by a human through the atmosphere. Reading and daydreaming about Kittinger’s feats have inspired me enormously over the years, and I believe the sense of wonder and awe they instilled in me can be heard in the music I create. This score is the way I imagine the tremendous bravery of one man who ascended to the edge of space, said a prayer, and jumped.