QPAC

Equations are beautiful – works of art in their own right. That’s according to violinist and world leading mathematician Professor Yang Hui He, who says we should marvel at mathematical equations just as we do great music or paintings. 

In this unique interdisciplinary performance, Professor He is joined by internationally acclaimed UK saxophonist Jonathan Radford and the talented musicians of the AYO Momentum Ensemble  as he guides audiences through a vibrant exploration of how mathematical ideas can inform musical creation. 

While the relationship between maths and music is commonly accepted, Professor He is urging us to delve deeper and explore how the study of geometric theories can help us appreciate the aesthetic beauty of music – and pure maths – at the same time.  

As composer Igor Stravinsky once remarked, “the musician should find in mathematics a study as useful as the learning of another language is to a poet.” For him, mathematics flowed just beneath the surface of great music.

Drawing on Professor He’s popular Royal Institution lecture series The Search for the Theory of Everything – the event combines performance, storytelling, and visual explanation to illuminate the deep connections between geometry and sound.

At the heart of the program is the Australian premiere of Cheryl Frances Hoad’s Saxophone Concerto (Three Mathematical Diversions), performed by AYO Momentum Ensemble. Listeners will discover how geometric structures and abstract equations can shape music at an architectural level – not simply as surface inspiration, but as foundational design. 

The first movement takes its inspiration from the search for the ‘einstein’ tile – a 13-sided shape that can ‘tile’ an infinite surface with no gaps or overlaps which was discovered by a hobbyist in 2023. The second movement is inspired by elliptic curve murmurations – key tools in modern cryptography, while the final is partly inspired by ideas from Professor He’s Royal Institution Lecture, The Search for the Theory of Everything.

Alongside this new work, the program also features music drawn from a range of periods and styles, paired with Professor He’s engaging insights. Together, they reveal how mathematical thinking enhances our understanding of musical form, creativity, and the patterns that govern the natural world.

Through this performance, audiences – scientists, musicians, and curious minds alike – are invited to see equations as something more than symbols on a page: as structures with beauty, resonance, and artistic possibility.