Classical Music and Our Natural World

Lecture

Classical Music and Our Natural World Discovering the Artistry in Distribution:
Musical and Biological

Terry Wolkowicz, lecturer

From starfish and penguins to mushrooms and trees, the distribution of plants and animals within a natural environment can illustrate interesting patterns of uniform, random and clumped dispersion.  In music, the composer’s artistry demonstrates similar patterns of distribution as multiple musical parts and harmonies are orchestrated throughout the orchestra. This presentation will explore the beauty found in patterns of distribution through varied examples in the natural world and through vivid musical examples from Beethoven, Elgar, Mozart, Ravel, Copland and others.

This presentation is part of Terry Wolkowicz's Classical Music and Our Natural World series.

Terry Wolkowicz

Terry Wolkowicz

For more than two decades, Terry Wolkowicz has explored the intersection of classical music and the environment. She serves as president of the nonprofit organization Sound Explorations and education director for the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. Wolkowicz received her bachelor’s degree in music from the New England Conservatory of Music and a master’s degree in education from Harvard University.

Wolkowicz has presented at numerous conferences, including the League of American Orchestras, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and other music and STEM organizations. She has completed projects for the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, NASA, NOAA and the Boston Museum of Science. As an author, she has written articles about concept-based arts integration published in the Music Educators Journal, the AZA’s Connect Magazine, Polyphonic (Eastman School of Music Paul R. Judy Center for Applied Research) and MusicOvation.