When mathematicians make music – funny, varied, atmospheric
The Maths Choir sang about the binomial distribution Maja at the Maths Music Evening at the end of February. Mathematicians making music is nothing new in our department. Once a semester they organise the Maths Music Evening (MMA) together. At the end of February, the castle's lecture hall was transformed into a top-class concert hall for almost three hours. An audience of 150 listened attentively to performances ranging from classical music to modern improvisation. Rüdiger Lich opened the evening with 'Die Liste' and, as always, led the audience through the programme with charm and eloquence.
The surprise of the evening was 'Die Heis(s)eren'. The five singers performed 'Have a little faith' a cappella to thunderous applause. It got even louder for Timo Prenzer, who can be described as the new discovery of the evening. The materials science student performed three songs by Bodo Wartke and was not allowed to leave the stage without an encore. In 'Meine neue Freundin' he told of his latest conquest, who fulfils all his dreams because she has a plastic surgeon for a father. There was also a lot of laughter in 'Yes, darling', in which a man describes how annoying his wife is and how he finally makes plans to behead her, but then doesn't.
A six-member women's choir impressed with 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' and Daniel Schluckebier showed off his skills on the grand piano with 'Jessie'. The Sunday Night Band tried their hand at 'Road Trippins' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Unfortunately the lyrics weren't quite right as they'd only been rehearsing for four days. So they quickly followed it up with an improvised blues.
After the break the Y's Guys sang 'Ich hab dich relativ gern…' about a typical male problem: they can't say what they feel. Then they took the audience on a trip to Paris and could hardly contain their applause. Artur Rosenbusch is almost always part of the show. This time he improvised with Simon Benedikt on piano. Peter Rösch (electric guitar), Simon Benedikt (piano) and Artur Rosenbusch (guitar) also performed the song Hoppla. Rosenbusch certainly made his girlfriend's eyes sparkle afterwards. He had written the love song 'You're the best thing' for her and performed it on the big black piano just for her.
As always, the Maths Choir provided the crowning finale to the evening. The two dozen or so singers sang about the binomial distribution Maja and performed Powerfrau. One of their songs showed the breadth of the maths singers' repertoire. With 'Thy will be done' they sang a contemporary and not so easy gospel song. Again, the two encores were not to be missed. And with 'Don't worry' the choir sent their audience off into the night.
Despite the wonderful programme, one person was missing. Martin Bernasconi was absent for the first time. He handed in his Master's thesis the next day and was therefore unable to contribute to the programme.