I am Carmen Jorge-Diaz, a DPhil student in the Mathematical Institute, a Shreder Music Award recipient and thus, also a musician. As many of you may already have noticed, mathematicians tend to have a very special relationship with music, either by playing an instrument, singing or simply enjoying music very much.
A few months ago, I had an idea of an activity that could help bring us who love music together, based on a very interactive music course I took a few years ago: having small presentations and/or discussions that are centred on a particular instrument, a particular piece, or a particular style. Anything you like! It doesn't need to be western-classical, and you don't need to be an expert, just someone who wants to share what they know about some music.
I personally would like to keep this as informal as possible, and as open for questions as possible. The format idea I have at the moment would be the following (very broadly, as of course this is completely new!): someone presents some piece of music/instrument/style... for 30 minutes or so, and then we open the floor for discussion, questions, curiosities... for another 30 minutes, or as long as people want to talk. A couple of examples could be:
- Different interpretations of Tchaikovsky's violin concerto: present the concerto and its context, listen to certain parts of it, and talk about how different interpreters choose to play certain parts.
- Bagpipes in Celtic nations: origins, differences, current status in society...
- Symbolism, superstitions and the desire for controlling the interpretation in Mahler's symphonies
Again, no need to be western-classical music (unluckily for you I am a Spanish violinist, so unfortunately I had to include a violin concerto), any music is more than welcome. The more we can learn the better!
Since I'd like this to be a collaborative effort, I made a Google Form in which you can register your interest in attending these get-togethers, and also to gather what day and time would be best for people in general, as well as if you'd like to have these in person (I think the current limit for that is 50 people) or online, amongst other things (including if you wish to volunteer to talk this term!). So far, I am happy to give a first talk to break the ice, but no one else is scheduled to talk yet!
Click here to fill the form! If you have any doubts, queries, suggestions... you can contact me: @email. Also, if someone has a good catchy name for the activity please don't hesitate to send it in, I am terrible at making up names! Any further communications will be sent to the people who sign up through the form only, so as not to spam everyone! We'll probably hold a first meeting to organise and plan the first sessions once people have signed up :)
