Professor Fiorella Terenzi

Described by Time Magazine as “a cross between Carl Sagan and Madonna”, astrophysicist, author, and recording artist Fiorella Terenzi, Ph.D. earned her doctorate in physics from the University of Milan, has studied opera and composition at Conservatory G. Verdi, and taught mathematics and physics at Liceo Scientifico, Milan.
 
In research at the Computer Audio Research Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, Fiorella developed techniques to convert radio waves from galaxies into sound — released by Island Records on her acclaimed CD Music from the Galaxies.
 
Her Avon/HarperCollins book, Heavenly Knowledge, explores astronomy as a metaphor for human relationships and humanity’s place in the Universe. The book, covered on ABC Radio, NPR Talk of The Nation, BBC Radio, and The Sci-Fi Channel, has been translated into Italian (“Musica Dalle Stelle” released by Sperling-Kupfer and bundled with her music CD “Galactically Yours”), German (“Der Kosmos ist weiblich” released by Goldmann/Bertelsmann), Latvian, and other languages.
 
Fiorella’s best-selling CD-ROM Invisible Universe blends astronomy and music into an entertaining and enlightening voyage through the stars. It won the SIGCAT Award for “Most Creative Application of Multimedia in Higher and Adult Education”.
 
Her songs are featured on the Billboard Top 20 Music Video The Gate to the Mind’s Eye with Thomas Dolby, and on Beyond Life, Mercury Records’ dance/trance CD and video tribute to Dr. Timothy Leary. Her vocals are featured on Trance Planet 5 (Triloka), “From Here to Tranquillity” (Silent Records), and John Serrie’s Ixlandia (Miramar). Samples of her track “Sidereal Breath” appear on Massive Attack’s Karmacoma. She has performed and recorded with artists from Herbie Hancock to Ornette Coleman.
 
Fiorella, an Apple Computer AppleMaster, has appeared with comedian Sinbad, author Douglas Adams, dancer Gregory Hines, and composer Mike Kamen. She is the first person to be a member of both the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (Grammy Awards) and the American Astronomical Society.
 
Her global TV and press appearances include features on CNN, The Dennis Miller Show, Sci Fi Channel, NPR Talk of the Nation, Weekend Edition and Science Friday, Newsweek on Air, The Wall Street Journal, People, Time, Glamour, Associated Press, Details, Los Angeles Reader, Daily News, and hundreds of feature stories internationally including the covers of Mondo 2000, New Frontier, Atari Explorer, Extropy, Composer USA, CDROM Today (U.K.), and Eye Magazine (Canada).
 
In lectures at UCSD, Stanford, MIT, the Smithsonian Institution, the American Museum of Natural History (NY), and in performances, live and on TV, in the US, Europe, and Japan, Fiorella has combined science and art to awaken people to the wonders of the universe. She has moderated hundreds of panels on science, technology, education and public outreach from Digital Hollywood to MacWorld and chaired the “Techno 2000” symposium at Pepperdine University.
 
Her speaking engagements embrace such topics as “Globalization of Education”, “Women in Space”, “The Business of Space”, “Values for a New Civilization”, “Art, Intelligence & Artificial Intelligence”, and the most popular “Heavenly Knowledge” and “Invisible Universe”.
 
During her term as Director of New Media at the Miami Museum of Science and Space Transit Planetarium, Fiorella arranged and hosted events including “National Astronomy Day”, produced Planetarium Shows including “Stars of the Seasons / Stars of the Sea”, developed content for grants including a NASA grant to deliver earth/space science on-line for high schools, and spoke at events from the NSF funded “Girls in Science” program, to the Florida Planetarium Directors Association, to the international State of the World Forum in New York.
 
She wrote the foreword for Paula Berinstein’s recent book Making Space Happen: Private Space Efforts and the People Behind Them and has been featured in a full chapter in Laura Woodmansee’s Women of Space: Cool Careers on the Final Frontier and the music and technology book The Art of Digital Music by Kelli Richards and David Battino. She also provided a technical review of the educational text book “The Physics of Every Day Phenomena” by Thomas Griffith (McGraw-Hill). She has taught astronomy and physics at Glendale College, Pierce College (Los Angeles), Pace University (New York), Borough of Manhattan Community College and Bronx Community College (City University of NY, New York) and is a full-time Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Brevard Community College, Cocoa, FL.
 
Fiorella lives in Los Angeles and Cocoa Beach, FL.
 
Watch Dr. Fiorella Terenzi – On CNN, Creating “Music From the Galaxies” and Dr. Fiorella Terenzi – Neo (Near Earth Objects), NEO (With Thomas Dolby) Music Video. Listen to her on Hour 25. Read her Chaos Control interview. Read Astrophysicist of Love.