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World Space Week 2025

Headline:
NIBIRU Album Listed as a Global Event at World Space Week 2025

Deck:
Recognized by the United Nations-endorsed World Space Week (4–10 October), the NIBIRU album positions itself at the intersection of art, science, and space with the support of UNESCO Club Vienna and Earth Charter Austria.

Body:
The jazz-fusion project NIBIRU has been officially registered as a Global Event for World Space Week 2025, the world’s largest annual celebration of space engaging thousands of activities across 80+ countries.

Drawing inspiration from astronomy and quantum physics as well as the cultural narratives found in the Sumerian tablets and Anunnaki legends, the NIBIRU album frames music as a contemporary sonic space for inquiry and reflection. The project is shared with a wider audience through collaboration with UNESCO Club Vienna and Earth Charter Austria.

Event Page:

World Space Week official listing: Archaeoastronomy NIBIRU – Event ID 96488

Listen:

Spotify: NIBIRU Album

Press / Contact:

Email: okanersanmanagement@gmail.com

What is World Space Week?

World Space Week is an international celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition. The United Nations General Assembly declared in 1999 that World Space Week will be held each year from October 4-10. These dates commemorate two events:

October 4, 1957: Launch of the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, thus opening the way for space exploration

October 10, 1967: The signing of the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activites of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.

Where and how is World Space Week celebrated?

World Space Week consists of space education and outreach events held by space agencies, aerospace companies, schools, planetaria, museums, and astronomy clubs around the world in a common timeframe. These synchronized space events attract greater public and media attention. World Space Week 2023 achieved record scale:

More than 16,000 events
Events in 83 nations

World Space Week is coordinated by the United Nations with the support of the World Space Week Association (WSWA). The WSWA leads a global team of National Coordinators, who promote the celebration of World Space Week within their own countries.

Note: The World Space Week logo is used in accordance with brand guidelines. © World Space Week Association.

Dillirga-Ma | Single

Dillirga-Ma | Okan Ersan

Single release date: March 22, 2024

With Dillirga-Ma, Okan Ersan invites us on a journey where tradition meets innovation. Drawing inspiration from Dillirga, a timeless Cypriot folk melody that has carried its folkloric character through generations, Ersan deconstructs and reimagines the piece within the vibrant language of contemporary jazz fusion.

The composition weaves tonal and modal harmonic textures with touches of parallel harmony, while rhythmic shifts between 4/4 and 7/8 meters create a dynamic polyrhythmic flow. The result is both rooted in heritage and open to the unexpected — a sonic landscape where intuition and structure, emotion and mathematics, seamlessly intertwine.

Dillirga-Ma is brought to life through the artistry of acclaimed musicians:

Engin Recepoğulları – Tenor Saxophone
Çağrı Sertel – Piano, Rhodes, Synth Pads
Eylem Pelit – Bass Guitar
Volkan Öktem – Drums

Guitars, along with select Rhodes and synth sections, are performed by Ersan himself.

The production, mixing, and mastering are crafted by none other than legendary drummer and sound engineer Dave Weckl, whose visionary touch brings clarity and depth to the music.

More than a reinterpretation, Dillirga-Ma is a dialogue across time — between the folk memory of Cyprus and the boundless possibilities of jazz fusion. It is a musical testament to renewal, transformation, and the enduring resonance of cultural symbols.

– Okan Ersan

You Must Believe in Spring | Single

You Must Believe in Spring | Okan Ersan featuring Soner Ersen

Single release date: Oct 27, 2023

With You Must Believe in Spring, Okan Ersan and Soner Ersen invite us into a soundscape where hope and renewal blossom through music. The single draws on the timeless symbolism of spring — a season of rebirth and continuity — and transforms it into a lyrical meditation on resilience, beauty, and the eternal cycles of life.

The piece unfolds with the delicate balance of jazz-fusion harmony and melodic storytelling, carrying both intimacy and expansiveness. Subtle textures and luminous colors mirror the arrival of spring, while improvisational interplay creates space for reflection and uplift. It is music that reminds us to look beyond the boundaries of the moment and embrace the promise of what is yet to come.

Produced with a deep sense of artistry, You Must Believe in Spring is both a celebration and a reminder: that even in silence and stillness, renewal awaits, and through music, we can touch the infinite.

– Okan Ersan

One by One | Single

One by One | Okan Ersan

Jazz Ballad (Composed by Okan Ersan)

Single release date: Nov 26, 2021

One by One is a deeply personal work, born from loss and remembrance. Over recent years, I have said farewell to many dear souls from my close circle — people I loved and valued, whose presence now lives only in memories and photographs. This piece began in November 2017, as a tribute to those who had passed, and ultimately found its final shape with the loss of my beloved pet, Ivy.

At its core, One by One is an attempt to give sound to what words cannot carry — the weight in the chest, the silence left behind, the ache of absence. For me, art and music exist to transform emotions into resonance, to make the unspeakable heard. This composition is my way of honoring those who are no longer here, and of sharing the timeless connection that lingers beyond parting.

– Okan Ersan

Okan Ersan: Composer/Guitars

Pat Levett: Harmonica

Soner Ersen: Piano

Steve Rose: Double Bass

Ralph Salmins: Drums

Arranged by: Soner Ersen – Okan Ersan

Mixed by: Haydn Bendall

Mastered by: Diana Gorovaya

A collaboration established with UNESCO Club Vienna

World Space Week 2021

WOW SIGNAL! – “6EQUJ5”

Nibiru Planet-X | Okan Ersan

Okan’s album Nibiru Planet-X showcases futuristic jazz fusion with no limits. Featuring NASA recordings of space blended with sophisticated harmonies and solid tonality, Nibiru presents music that is ahead of its time.

It was presented on the UNESCO Club Vienna Spaced Out on JAZZ Platform to commemorate 30 years of AustroMIR 91 and to raise awareness of the UN International Year of Peace and Trust, promoting the peaceful uses of outer space.

The Concept

The opening “6EQUJ5 (Wow Signal)” starts with Morse code which seeks to translate the legendary outer space transmission from 1977. The rhythm is soon emulated by Ersan on guitar and the tight quartet engages in intense interplay.

Here, as in several other pieces, the music is blended with recordings of space captured by NASA — delivering a 42-minute uncharted perspective of the Universe.

Featured Jazz Artists

Nibiru – Okan Ersan
Dave Brubeck Countdown – Time in Outer Space, dedicated to astronaut John Glenn
Voyager’s Golden Record: Melancholy Blues – Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven