Musician, physicist to present 'Einstein's Cosmic Messengers' concert

November 3, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — An award-winning composer and the leader of the largest astrophysics experiment in the world will come together Sunday for the Florida premiere of “Einstein’s Cosmic Messengers,” an inventive multimedia concert.

This concert will feature Andrea Centazzo, composer, percussionist, and multimedia artist, and University of Florida professor of physics David Reitze, head of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory Scientific Collaboration.

Reitze will open the program with a brief presentation aimed at the general public highlighting gravitational waves and what they reveal about the most violent events in the universe, such as the Big Bang, neutron stars and collisions of black holes. He’ll also explain how the gravitational wave observatory, known by its acronym LIGO, home to the world’s most sensitive laser interferometer, may detect gravitational waves. Centazzo will then perform his “Einstein’s Cosmic Messengers,” the multimedia concert. The presentation blends music and sounds played live with images and animations inspired by LIGO’s facilities, the universe, and Einstein’s genius and obsessions.

“Einstein’s Cosmic Messengers” is a wonderful blend of science, art, and music. It brings together one of the boldest and most precise astrophysics experiments ever developed — LIGO — with the musical and artistic interpretative powers of Andrea Centazzo,” says Reitze. “I hope that people will come away with a sense of the quest for gravitational waves as the dawn of a new type of astronomy.”

Free and open to the public, the concert is set for 8 p.m. Sunday in the Rion Ballroom of the Reitz Student Union. It is co-sponsored by the UF LIGO research group, the UF department of physics and the National Science Foundation.

For more information on Centazzo and his music, go to www.andreacentazzo.com. For more information on the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, go to www.ligo.org.