“Dark Sky” for Marimba Quartet, Percussion Ensemble, SATB choir and Piano explores the beauty of Death Valley National Park’s pristine dark skies using original poetry by Brandon Krieg, Kutztown University Professor of English and Poetry. With some of the darkest night skies in the United States, Death Valley is designated as a “Dark Sky Park” and offers a view of celestial objects often not visible in any other part of the world. Using the colors of the ensemble, this work will take the audience on a journey through the world’s hottest place on Earth illuminated by the light of stars to see the parks many animals, badlands, sand dunes, multi-hued hills and craters illuminated by the light of the night sky, and to look beyond into the vast universe.