Composer and soprano Gloria Bruni in the church of San Fantin where the concert will take place. Photo: Gloria Bruni
What happens when particle physics inspires art? The outcome can be heard on the evening of 24 October in the church of San Fantin in Venice (Italy). Here, the world premiere of the concert “Fragments of Creation” will take place, a work in which composer and soprano Gloria Bruni translates the creation of the universe into notes and music. The research centre DESY is the patron of this world premiere, because a visit to DESY and intensive discussions with particle physicist Isabell Melzer-Pellmann, head of the DESY-CMS research group, rekindled Gloria Bruni´s interest in the creation and history of the universe and also inspired her art project CREATION.
The universe, with its many mysteries, has always been the focus of attention from science, philosophy, theology and art. Bruni has been fascinated by the universe since her youth. Her father, a physicist and mathematician, provided her with many ideas in family dialogues about the concept of infinity, the nature of the universe and the circumstances of its creation, which she then used for her creative inspiration.
After meeting DESY in Hamburg, she founded the CREATION project, which brought together leading creatives such as the designer Peter Schmidt, the librettist and musician Lauro Ferrarini, the director Elisabetta Brusa, artists and scientists. The concert “Fragments of Creation” is the most recent culmination of this project.
The concert will take place in the recently restored church of San Fantin. Gloria Bruni will perform on stage as a soprano together with 31 musicians from the Arcangelo Corelli Orchestra of Ravenna conducted by Marco Comin and the Philharmonic Choir of Trentino conducted by Sandro Filippi. The backdrop will be an immersive scenography created by Elisabetta Brusa with images from the DESY archive, reflecting the inexorable movement of the cosmos.
As a prologue to the concert, faith and science will meet in dialogue form: moderated by musicologist Ettore Borri, Arch. Don Gianmatteo Caputo, Delegate for Culture of the Patriarchate of Venice, and DESY particle physics director Beate Heinemann will discuss the topic. “Science, believe, art and music have shaped human culture. I am very much looking forward to this event, where these different forms of creativity will mix and create a whole new perspective on the origin of the universe.”
The premiere of “Fragments of Creation” is supported by the Patriarchate of Venice, the Veneto Region, the City of Venice, the German Consulate in Milan, the German Centre for Venetian Studies, DESY and INFN, the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics. At a later date, the concert shall also come to Germany.
