The Simons Center for Geometry and Physics presents its “Synergy Exhibition Concert and Lecture Series” on Tuesday, July 23, at 5:30 pm. The evening begins with a talk by Diana Davis, “Dance your PhD,” followed by a Wine and Cheese Reception and then a musical performance, “Two Sides of Rachmaninov,” featuring mezzo soprano Re’ut Ben-Ze’ev, cellist Andrey Tchekmazov and pianist Leon Livshin.
Davis’s video won the Physics and Math category of the 2012 international Dance Your PhD competition sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and TED. The contest invites graduate students to submit videos that explain their dissertations through dance, aimed at non-scientist audiences. Her video, which shows a single dancer moving across a colored pentagonal surface, subsequently “went viral” in the mathematics community, and has been shown at talks and conferences around the world.
Davis received a PhD in 2013 from the Mathematics Department at Brown University, where she studied geometry and dynamics. She is passionate about teaching and learning mathematics, especially through drawing geometric pictures and through building three-dimensional geometric objects. This fall, she will begin a postdoc at Northwestern University.
In the concert, “Two Sides of Rachmaninov,” the performers will try to understand the inner conflict between this seemingly gloomy man and the perception of him as one of the most popular and beloved composers of the 20th century. Was Rachmaninov really depressed? They will perform Sonata in G minor Op.19 for cello and piano, and his incredibly dramatic Songs, showing how Rachmaninov set texts by the great poets A.Pushkin, F.Tyutchev, A.Fet, and D.Merezhkovsky, and how the text and music both reflect and explore nature, religion, sadness and loss.
Click here for more information on the event.
The Summer Concert series continues at The Simons Center, with other performances on July 30, August 6 and August 16. Click here for more information about the series.
All concerts, lectures and receptions are free and open to the public.
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