A virtuosic and spectacular concert-length work based primarily on the writings of the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins (famous, in part, for his defense of atheism), Sumptuous Planet is an expression of belief about the nature of life and the joy we can find in understanding it, paradoxically told through a Christian Mass and Dawkins' secular world view. The work is at times an impassioned romp; at others an intimate meditation. 

Composer David Shapiro writes of Sumptuous Planet: "The work begins with a setting of physicist Richard Feynman’s lament that 'The value of science remains unsung by singers. This is not yet a scientific age.' From there, the piece proceeds to glorify the world as it really is, unadorned by myths or miracle stories. In other words, before the piece begins, we do not yet live in a scientific age. By the end, we do."