Surgeon and Composer Collaborate on Cosmic Rhapsody Project Linked to NASA

Guwahati: Dr. Susan Lim spent three decades in medicine, pioneering robotic surgery and stem-cell research. She eventually turned to art to explore the intersection of human life and technology. This transition birthed Cosmic Rhapsody, an international project combining music, animation, and storytelling.

Lim met Assamese singer Joi Barua at an INK Conference in Singapore. Barua performed a song about cultural icon Bishnu Prasad Rabha, which caught Lim’s attention. She shared lyrics for what became The ALAN Song, the opening of her LIM Trilogy. Barua signed on to compose the music. “I sensed something special was brewing, like a sixth sense tingling,” Barua said. “But no, I was not aware of the journey.”

The project evolved into a massive collaboration. It features the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Voices, the City of London Choir, and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Recordings took place at Abbey Road Studios. The narrative follows ALAN, an AI plush toy that evolves into ALANaut. He travels with his human partner, Christina, to seek planetary renewal. Samudra Kajal Saikia, an art historian and animator, brought these visuals to life. Joi Barua co-composed tracks like Star Among the Cosmic Clouds, Confetti Storm, and Confetti Star-Ion with French arranger Manu Martin.

The work intersects with real science. In December 2025, the team visited the Space Sciences Laboratory at UC Berkeley. There, they connected their narrative about stellar lifecycles to NASA’s Compton Spectrometer and Imager, known as COSI. Principal Investigator John Tomsick leads the mission to study radioactive elements from supernovae. The team saw clear parallels between their music and the mission’s astrophysics research.

The project highlights humanity’s connection to the universe. Lim believes these stories inspire future explorers. She notes that we are made of stardust. That cosmic cycle remains central to her work.