World Science Festival Is a Work of Art

Details: Parent Category: Other Festivals; Category: Music; Published on Monday, 31 May 2010 19:41; Written by Perry Santanachote

The World Science Festival is a nonprofit event that brings together preeminent figures in science and the arts to engage the public. Since 2008, the annual festival has garnered a live audience of over 300,000 and two million on-line views.

James Webb Space Telescope It launches this years with an opening-night gala at the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York City on June 2, 2010. The performance, honoring the renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, begins at 7 p.m. with a star-studded lineup.

For starters, Tiler Peck of the New York City Ballet and David Hallberg of American Ballet Theater will pair up to dance the Adagio section of George Balanchine's "Apollo." Danny Burstein, of the Lincoln Center's South Pacific, will perform Monty Python's "Galaxy Song." Violinist Arturo Delmoni and jazz sensation Eldar Djangirov will also perform. And famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma will play a Persian musical version of the Icarus story, with the Silk Road Ensemble.

The evening will kick start the five-day-long festival, packed with 40 events across the city. Science-related lectures, discussions and performances will take place in museums, theaters, and on the streets.

Other highlights of the festival include:

A program with the artificial intelligence visionary Marvin Minsky at the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater on June 3 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., in which he joins a mathematician, astrobiologist, and philosopher in exploring the edges of human understanding. Minksy will also collaborate with digital composer Tod Machover, the creator of Guitar Hero, for a musical experiment that involves a chorus of robots and an aria from soprano Joélle Harvey.

A mind-altering conversation between Oscar-winning filmmaker Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and neuroscientist Giulio Tononi, one of the world's leading sleep researchers. The discussion, which will be moderated by Alan Alda of M*A*S*H fame, will cast new light on the science of the mind and attempt to explain where consciousness is generated in the brain. This event takes place June 5 at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The unveiling of the James Webb Space Telescope, the world's most powerful future space telescope at Battery Park on June 1, and on public display until Sunday, June 6, from 11 am – 6 pm daily. And don't miss the free stargazing party at the base of the 80-foot telescope on Friday night, June 4.

Tickets to each separate event are $30 for adults and $15 for students and children.

Visit http://www.worldsciencefestival.com for the complete schedule and locations.

World Science Festival
Opening Night Gala
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center
1941 Broadway
New York, NY 10023

Hayden Planetarium Space Theater
American Museum of Natural History
79 St. & Central Park West
New York, NY 10024

Kaye Playhouse, Hunter College
695 Park Ave.
New York, NY 10065