It’s easy to assume that in the vastness of space, our solar system’s eight planets move soundlessly through the galaxy.
That couldn’t be more wrong.
Although we can’t hear them, NASA has captured and amplified the unearthly sounds of each of the planets through radio emissions that scientists have converted into sounds waves.
Plant City native Charleene Closshey has taken those space sounds, combined them with mathematically-calculated frequencies of our planets, ambient music compositions tuned to each celestial body’s unique hertz frequency, planetary gongs and ancient mantras sung in Sanskrit, to create the New Age album Aligned: A Planetary Mantra and Gong Shower.
Closshey teamed with Grammy award winning Nashville-based engineer Charles Yingling to mix and master the album. Released on September 30, the album has already earned a nomination by Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) in the New Age/Ambient Genre category for her single “Jupiter,” that has the longest running time of 15:24.
“I’m deeply humbled and honored to have my music recognized with so many other great artists and creators,” said Closshey.
Music has influenced her life from a young age. Though piano was the first instrument she learned to play at the age of two, over the years she has also become proficient with other instruments, including violin, flute, clarinet, harp and viola. After her freshman year at Plant City High, Closshey transferred to Lakeland’s Harrison School for the Performing Arts, graduating in 1999 as its class valedictorian. She attended Florida Southern College, graduating in 2002 with degrees in Marketing Management and Exercise Science.
Not one to travel the traditional conservatory route, she considers herself a “musical free spirit,” learning from a plethora of diverse teachers. She completed extension courses through the Julliard School, New York University, Circle in the Square Theater School and the Berklee College of Music. When she wanted to learn to sing, she took opera lessons, honing her vocal instrument until she was proficient enough to perform in Rome.
“Your voice is the one instrument you play that you can’t see and in many ways that opens up so much potential for ways you can use it,” she said.
Her vocals on Aligned, combined with other sounds, help listeners’ bodies feel soothed and relaxed through low hertz frequencies that stimulate the body’s longest nerve- the vagus nerve.
“Part of the reason I composed this album was to explore the depth of healing with sound,” she said. “Vibrations can have a healing effect in your body.”
While her music is otherworldly, Closshey has her roots planted firmly in Plant City. She moved back home in early 2020 during COVID and now lives next door to her parents in Walden Lake. “Plant City is my home and its people have always been so supportive and encouraging,” she said.
From her first piano teacher, Patty Linder, who still attends her local shows, to her family, she is grateful to be blessed with so many supporters. “It’s a give and take, with people loving on me and me loving back on them,” she said.
To learn more about Closshey or to purchase her two-disc album visit www.charleene.com.