Points of Convergence: Music meets Mathematics - 17th November 2015
Image 1: (L) Mathematician Lasse Rempe-Gillen and (R) Composer Emily Howard
The event ‘Points of Convergence: Music meets Mathematics’ was part of Emily’s Leverhulme Residency Presentation on 17th November 2015. Download the programme here.
‘Points of Convergence: Music meets Mathematics’ was a public lecture-recital featuring Emily’s Leverhulme residency compositions Leviathan (2015) and Orbits (2015) written for saxophone and percussion duo scapegoat, both musical responses to Professor Lasse Rempe Gillen’s research in dynamical systems. It took place on November 17, 2015, in the Foresight Centre Chapel at the University of Liverpool. Ahead of the event, the performers (duo scapegoat, consisting of saxophonist Joshua Hyde and percussionist Noam Bierstone) were in residence at the University for four days, rehearsing the pieces and preparing for the event with Emily and Lasse.
Image 2: (L) Vice Chancellor Professor Janet Beer and (R) scapegoat (percussionist Noam Bierstone and saxophonist Joshua Hyde)
Vice Chancellor Professor Janet Beer introduced the event, which involved Emily speaking about her artistic process alongside live musical demonstrations by the instrumentalists, explanations of the mathematical ideas that influenced the pieces by Lasse, and performances of both Leviathan and Orbits. During an interval, the audience had the chance to discuss what they had heard, and view some images arising from research on dynamical systems. The event was extremely well-attended, with the venue full to capacity, and audience members hailed both from within and from outside of the University. Similar events (again with performances by scapegoat) were held at the Royal Northern College of Music (part of their Research Forum) and at the Science Museum in London (as part of the Mathematics Festival celebrating the London Mathematical Society’s 150th anniversary).