top of page

Creativity in Music and Mathematics

Friday, November 19, 10:10am-12:00pm (EST)

What makes a new idea a good idea?  How do constraints motivate novel thinking? What is the role of one's culture and environment in cultivating new ideas? What makes a mathematical proof elegant? In this session, we shall explore creativity, specifically in the context of musical composition and mathematical proof with progressive rock drummer Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson, Earthworks) and mathematician Günter M. Ziegler (Free University of Berlin). There will be an open Q&A period at the end.

​

To Participate:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82203365132?pwd=NzhwUGxSRTNrcVZTdmxya2IxZm9GZz09
Passcode: 752380

BillBruford.jpg

Bill Bruford

Musician

Bill Bruford is a drummer, composer, and musicologist best known for his work as one of the founding figures of progressive rock music (with bands such as Yes, King Crimson, U.K., and many others), as well as his later work in jazz and jazz fusion (with Bruford, Earthworks, and more). Bruford has played an integral role in the development of new sounds that shaped the development of contemporary music. Following his retirement from performance in 2009, Bruford obtained a PhD from the University of Surrey, focusing his research on creativity and musical performance. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Yes in 2017.

Ziegler_2K.jpg

Günter M. Ziegler

Mathematician

Günter M. Ziegler is a Professor of Mathematics and President of the Free University of Berlin. His research -- for which he was awarded the prestigious Leibniz Prize -- focuses primarily on polytopes, topological combinatorics, and discrete geometry. He is also the co-author of Proofs from THE BOOK (with Martin Aigner), a renowned text that documents the most elegant known proofs of many important mathematical theorems, following the vision of the late Paul ErdÅ‘s.

bottom of page