Up for a romantic Valentine’s Day evening? Then head to the University of Colorado Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium to Relativity for Lovers – A Valentine’s Day Among the Stars, for music, film and a talk on the genius of Albert Einstein.
The 7 p.m. event Feb. 14 will feature selected clips from a new documentary film, Einstein’s Light: Illuminating Minds by award-winning filmmaker Nickolas Barris -- who will be there in person -- and a lecture on the relevance of Einstein’s theories today by CU-Boulder astrophysics Professor Michael Shull. The first clips of the new Einstein’s Light documentary by Barris debuted in Paris Jan. 19 as part of the U.N.’s 2015 Year of Light Celebration honoring the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s theory of relativity.
The event will include participation by Bruce Adolphe, who composed the original film score for Einstein’s Light that was recorded by world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell. Adolphe, who will discuss the music behind the film, also will be on the piano to accompany Chicago-based violinist Clara Lyon, a rising star who has performed around the world. Adolphe and Lyon will be playing with the Project Youth Chamber Music Orchestra based in Fort Collins at the Fiske event.
“Einstein had a love affair with music and with the violin, and we think this Valentine’s Day event is a great way to celebrate his accomplishments,” said Shull of the astrophysical and planetary sciences department. Einstein once noted that Mozart’s music “was so pure that it seemed to have been ever present in the universe, waiting to be discovered by the master.”
Shull said Einstein’s genius is the cornerstone for today’s physics. “Every area of modern physics bears his fingerprints, from understanding gravity and quantum mechanics to how atoms work,” said Shull. But as far-reaching as the laws of physics are, Einstein himself famously said: “Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love,” noted Shull, also a fellow at the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy.
There also will be a number of hands-on science activities for kids beginning at 6 p.m. in the lobby of Fiske prior to the Valentine’s Day show. They include a program called “Seeing the Invisible” that CU-Boulder students will use to interact with children to help them learn more about light that is normally invisible to the human eye, such as ultraviolet and infrared, said Fiske Operations Manager Francisco “Tito” Salas.
The planetarium also is host to “Science on a Sphere,” a room-sized, global display system that uses computers and video projectors to display planetary data onto a 6-foot diameter sphere, analogous to a giant animated globe.
Tickets are $20 for general seating and $10 for students under 12 and for CU students with IDs. To purchase tickets visit http://www.projectchambermusic.org/tickets-hook-events/.
For more information on Fiske visit https://fiske.colorado.edu/beta/.
Contact:
Francisco “Tito” Salas, Fiske operations manager, 303-492-3749
francisco.salas@colorado.edu
Jim Scott, CU-Boulder media relations, 303-492-3114
jim.scott@colorado.edu
