Science & the Arts at CUNY Graduate Center

I have been hearing from people who are weaving science and classical music in performance. I sense a trend.

In November 2005 we produced an evening with Galileo’s Daughters, an ensemble that performs music from the era of Galileo. Dava Sobel, renowned author of the best selling book Galileo’s Daughter, read excerpts from her book in the intervals between the musical selections. You can listen to a podcast.

Kate Light is the author of three volumes of poetry and a professional violinist. Light’s recent production, Einstein’s Mozart, focuses on the inspiration Einstein found in Mozart’s music. The Colorado Chamber Players commissioned the piece, which features original text interlaced with live performances of Mozart string quartets.

On January 30 — two weeks ago — we presented Galileo’s Muse, written and produced by Ben Wolff. Wolff played the cello in an ensemble that performed 16th and 17th C music, including compositions by Galileo’s father and brother. Wolff narrated the story of Galileo’s investigations that resulted in the Law of Falling Bodies. He included a demonstration on a recreation of the apparatus Galileo probably used and the audience was thrilled – they got it. A podcast will be available soon — I’ll give an update. Spoiler: the lute, Wolff asserts, was Galileo’s muse.

Ensemble for the Romantic Century – “Theatrical Concerts: Transforming your experience of chamber music” — are working on a piece about Jules Verne “which centers on the role of imagination as a catalyst in both arts and sciences.” The piece will premier in June.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 3:02 pm and is filed under SciArt News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.