Inspired by her astronomy course at Yale University, Rory Bricka ’26 presented her work on active galactic nuclei at the annual Astronomy Department Jamboree.
Julia Levy October 29, 2024 10:25pm
staff reporter
Provided by Rory Brikka
Music major Rory Bricka ’26 spent this summer immersed in music.
While attending the Brevard Composition Institute in North Carolina’s Blue Mountains, he decided to write a symphonic piece about active galactic nuclei, also known as black holes. Featuring an ensemble of 15 different instruments, Bricka sought to answer the question, “How do you represent a black hole in music?”
Bricka drew inspiration for the piece from a course last semester titled “Introduction to Relativity and Black Holes,” taught by Professor Charles Bailin ’81. This class is specifically designed for students who are not majoring in physics, astronomy, or related fields.
“(Bricka) really absorbed some scientific ideas and completely transformed them through his musical vision. It’s powerful music in itself, but also very much between ideas and art. I think it’s also an impressive synaesthetic connection,” Beilein wrote in the News. “I think this is a great example of what can come from distribution requirements.”
Many other artists have previously enrolled in Balin’s courses.
Balin recalls that one of the graduates of his course was Leah Halloran ART ’01, who has since pursued a career in visual art inspired by astronomical concepts. In 2023, Halloran published a book titled The Twisted Side of the Universe: A Journey Through Black Holes, Wormholes, Time Travel, and Gravitational Waves after nearly 20 years of collaboration with Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist Kip Thorne. was published.
Bricca was also inspired by a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) simulation that shows the perspective of an astronaut entering the event horizon of a black hole. Bricka thought this was the perfect ending.
He explained that many composers prioritize writing the music first, and later in the process connect concepts and titles to the work. This was not the case in his works.
“First and foremost, I wanted to convey a sense of awe,” Bricka said. “The visceral nature of these fascinating objects makes it difficult for music to describe concepts scientifically. What music is really good at is depicting emotion, the feeling you get when you think about these objects. That’s it.”
Similarly, NASA explored the application of sound to represent astronomical data through “sonification,” which converts data into sound, in a 2024 documentary titled “Listen to the Universe.” NASA’s sonication projects include black holes, galaxies, nebulae, planetary orbits, and space telescopes. Audio data representation is especially important for making information accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired.
In September, Bricka’s work was unveiled for the first time at the annual Yale Astronomy Department Jamboree.
Professor Earl Bellinger, an astrophysicist and avid musician, attended the jamboree. Bellinger routinely makes connections between how stars make “music” in their pulsating brightness and the shape of acoustic waves, similar to NASA’s sonification research. Masu.
“I think (the work) was great in showing the connection between art and science,” Bellinger said. “The piece was well structured and I could hear the drama switching between the two sections of the piece. There aren’t that many songs about black holes, so I thought this was a perfect theme to write about. ”
Bricka will be participating in the Yale Symphony Orchestra, YSO, and Composition Reading next semester.
Julia Levy
Julia Levy covers stories in computer science, physics, astronomy, and earth and planetary science. She is a senior at Pauli Murray University, majoring in computer science and astrophysics.
