«Klänge der Materie»
«Klänge der Materie» is a science communication project hosted by the Faculty of Physics of the University of Vienna, in cooperation with the University of Music and performing Arts. Its focus is on the materials science, which is an interdisciplinary field that describes the physical properties of materials, and helps create new ones.
The core of the project is the international composition competition «Sounds of Matter». It was a call for composers from all over the world to find inspiration in the audiovisual material (images, animations, graphs) provided by the researchers at the University of Vienna. A jury made up of composers and physicists would select the pieces that best translate into music the latest findings in material science, therefore encouraging composers to find creative new ways to convey scientific ideas through music.
Alongside the composition competition, the project also included a number of workshops, an online gallery for the general public to choose their favourites among nearly 100 different musical pieces submitted and an interactive exhibition available for the hundreds of visitors of the University Campus between May and August 2018. Here are some figures:
- 2 composition experts
- 7 physicists providing material
- 8 PhD candidates involved in the workshops
- 8 performing musicians
- 60 persons attending the final concert
- 15 teachers taking part in the workshops
- 85 children taking part in the workshops
- 150 composers from
- 36 different countries
- 158 different musical compositions
The project ended with a public concert at the campus of the University of Vienna, which was also the kickstart of the “Arts & Science” Festival 2018. The compositions that made it to the final concert in Vienna were introduced by the leading researchers in each field, providing the background for the pieces to be fully appreciated. At the closing of the project in September 2018, the project website throws the following stats:
- 11,637 in online voting
- 1,030 visits to website (945 new users)
- 60,345 Pageviews of the Gallery