Symposium "Physics, Music, Mathematics"

September 21/22, 2026

l’Arrivée Hotel, Wittbräucker Straße 565, D-44267 Dortmund, Germany

An interdisciplinary meeting for discussing the relationship between arts and science, focussing on music and physics, as particularly interesting fields when analyzed by mathematical means

Monday, September 21

Welcome: 9:00

Session 1: 9:00-10:45

-        The Harmonia Perfecta Maxima- the eternal bond between music and mathematics

          Karlheinz Schüffler

-        Does a triad always sound pleasant? - Methods and principles in the theory of scale temperaments

          Karlheinz Schüffler

-        Scales in Thai music

         Ahpisit Ungkichanukit and Ora Rangsiman

Coffee break: 10:45 – 11:15

Session 2: 11:15-12:45

-        Physics of string instruments

          Izumi Iwasa

-        Construction of the violin

          Anna Barwe and Jonathan Bley

Lunch: 13:00-14:00

 

Session 3: 14:00-15:00

-        Conducting and répétiteur training

          Chie Ishimoto

-        With the Choeur de Radio France

          Marie Boyer

          Celeste Simonet

Intermezzo: Movements 1, 5 and 6 from the Septet op. 20 of Ludwig van Beethoven

                     played by members of the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra

Coffee break: 16:00-16:30

Session 4: 16:30-18:30

-        From the opera house to the microphone-Physics of the singing voice

          Angela Kerrison

-        Musical and organizational management of a choir

          Claudia Mehring and Raimund Fleiter

-        Factors influencing voice production from a speech-language pathology

          Silvia Geiseler

-        Shigin: Chanting of Chinese and Japanese poetry

          Hiroko Iwasa

Dinner: 18:30-20:00

Evening session 20:00 -        

Musical presentations with various “special” instruments

 

Tuesday, September 22

Chamber music: 9:00-9:30

String Quartet No. 1 of Peter Tschaikowsky played by the Belisama Quartet

Session 5: 9:30-10:30

-        Room acoustics and concert halls

         Stefan Müller

-        The pipe organ and cathedral - auralizing the interaction between both instruments

         Josep Llorca-Bofi

Coffee break: 10:30-11:00

Session 6: 11:00-12:30

-        Rhythms in a Songbird brain

         Ana Amador

-        Quantum music and the logic of sound and silence

          Rakhat-Bi Abdyssagin

-        From sheet music to musical images

         Kinko Tsuji

Lunch: 13:00-14:00

Session 7: 14:00-15:30

-        Do plants make music_

         Andreas Deutsch

-        Binaural beats as a target: Digital therapeutics for dynamical diseases

         Markus Dahlem

-        Connected

         Eliane Hobbing

Coffee break: 15:30-16:00

Session 8: 16:00-18:00

Dialogue between musicians and scientists: How do physics and mathematics contribute to understanding music?