APRIL18, 2023
“Frequency in Physics and Music”
An educational program for high school students with co-creator Dr. Kevin Delin, MIT alumni and violinist irina Voloshina at Sequoyah School, Pasadena

In “The Art and Science of Music,” accomplished violinist Irina Voloshina and physicist Dr. Kevin Delin team up to explore music and how it is made. Intimately connected to mathematics, the music scale was specifically designed to appeal to human ears. In this presentation, the audience is treated to not only the music from a violin but also the sounds from a theremin, the first electronic instrument. Voloshina and Delin, each expert in their respective field, examine how sound vibrations are produced in both instruments — mechanically in the violin and electrically in the theremin — and how these vibrations are bundled into the harmonics that connect us to the psycho-acoustics of music. The blend of art and science perspectives gives the audience a deeper understanding of the physics of sound generation and its connection to music. Huge thanks to Lara Wickes for lending us the fascinating theremin instrument.

Students feedback:

“The violinist and theremin performance was amazing!!! In my years at school I have never had something similar to this. It felt like a college class where there was a small lecture but we also had access to awesome opportunities, such as the guest speaker. I hope more of these continue, it was a great experience! I liked how each student had the chance to play the theremin and actively participate, everyone had a voice.”

“1. I enjoyed the history lesson regarding espionage. 2. The theremin instrument was particularly interesting in how it applied the concepts we were learning and then added an electrical component. 3. Additionally, I enjoyed directly getting to test out the theremin. 4. I found the incorporation of emotion in musical production fascinating.”

“I really enjoyed how excited Irina was talking about the violin and how she got more excited to play the instrument that no one knows how to play. Playing the theremin was pretty fun too because I thought it was cool that we didn’t have to touch the instrument to play it.”

“It was interesting to see the different harmonics played. My favorite parts were hearing Irina play with/without musicality and the theremin. It was fun to play it and it was much harder to play than I expected”. 

“My favorite thing was the intersectionality between music and physics. I really enjoyed it also played into acoustics and how hearing waves through the little hairs in our ears makes us feel. Overall, everything was super fun and listening to Ms. Irina was awesome!”

“I enjoyed learning about the violin, and though I did not know much more about physics, it was interesting to learn about the player behind the violin. Seeing a physical application of the topics we had been discussing was interesting. Irina was an excellent speaker, and it would be an understatement to say she was an outstanding violin player. Her talk about the importance of emotion behind what she played was also fabulous.”

“I really enjoyed listening to Irina play and getting to understand how emotion can inform the playing. I liked getting to try the theremin.”