Inviting Invention at the Cambridge Science Festival

PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Run Through April 26, 2007
CONTACT INFO: Michael Belcher / publicity@HipHarp.com / 781-483-3556
HI-RES PHOTOS, Video & Audio clips available at: "Publicity" page at www.HipHarp.com

SCIENCE MEETS MUSIC - Apr. 23, 25 & 26 when Grammy-Nominated electric harpist Deborah Henson-Conant "Invites Invention" with scientists from MIT and Harvard on-stage at the Cambridge Science Festival. Each “Inviting Invention” event in this series combines performance, interview and collaboration between Henson-Conant, moderator Jonathan Wyner and their special guests. Through the exploration of diverse minds, the audience is invited into the worlds of creative invention and the alchemy of collaboration. Example: How is being a nuclear physicist like being a musician, and how can the two possibly create something together - right now - in front of an audience?

Free to the public. Shows take place April 23rd and 25th at 6:30pm and April 26th at 2:30pm at Novartis Auditorium at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, 220 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA. Details at HipHarp.com Tour Schedule.

Henson-Conant’s special guests include:
Daniel Rosenberg, Lecture-Demonstrator & Performing Scientist
Dany Adams, Assistant Research Investigator, Harvard University
Dr. Ted Selker, Associate Professor MIT Media Lab, Director of the Context Aware Computing Group

Deborah Henson-Conant is a 2007 Grammy-Nominated artist known for her renegade performances that mix theatre, music and humor, and for revolutionizing the elite concert harp into an electric strap-on 31-string hybrid she plays in genres from blues to flamenco. Her most recent work, the CD, DVD and TV project “Invention & Alchemy,” debuted on PBS stations across the U.S. in March 2007.

“Inviting Invention” is moderated by producer, mastering engineer, performer and coach Jonathan Wyner and is supported in part by a grant from the Cambridge Arts Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, a grant from the Council for the Arts at MIT and by Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research.

Above details subject to change. Please see the “Tour Page” at www.HipHarp.com for updated info.

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Deborah Henson-Conant - Inviting Invention at the Cambridge Science Festival pg. 2

Special Guests

Mon. Apr. 23 – 6:30 pm: "Chemistry and Collaboration"
DANIEL ROSENBERG, Lecture-Demonstrator & Performing Scientist
Daniel Rosenberg is a chemist with a passion for scientific experiment. As a member of the lecture demonstration team at the Harvard Science Center, his creativity is on display each day in the lecture halls, where he sets up and runs experiments for diverse principles of science.
Rosenberg & Henson-Conant will explore questions like: what does it mean to “experiment” and what is the difference between experimenting and just playing around ... or they may do something completely different.

Wed. Apr. 25 – 6:30 pm: "Opposites Interact: Brainstorming the Music in Science"
DANY ADAMS, Assistant Research Investigator, Harvard University
Dr. Dany Adams is fascinated by physical factors that influence embryonic development, and has studied related questions in growing worms (why skinny not fat?), frog hearts (why on the left?), tadpole tails (can I grow one?), and slime (how hard is it to bend a giant mold cell?). The answers may have profound implications for people, from preventing birth defects and stopping cancer, to regrowing damaged spinal cords and regenerating lost limbs. She’s also the author of “Lab Math” a reference book for math-averse biologists.
Adams & Henson-Conant might explore concepts of: bioelectricity; connect correlation to causation; ponder symmetry; imagine the possibilities of regeneration; ... or they might do something completely different

Thu. Apr. 26 – 2:30 pm: "Smart Designs and Renegade Instruments: From Thinking Beds to Wearable Harps"
DR. TED SELKER, Associate Professor MIT Media Lab, Director of the Context Aware Computing Group
Dr. Ted Selker, Associate Professor at MIT Media Lab, is Director of the Context-Aware Computing Lab. Humans work to understand and react to each other's intentions - and the Context-Aware Computing Group demonstrates that computers can do this too. From "Smart Beds," "Smart Kitchens" and "Foods of the Future" to new voting technologies, Selker and his designs are frequently featured in the news media from the Wall Street Journal and NPR to Good Morning America and Martha Stewart.
Selker & Henson-Conant will explore questions like: What does it mean to “engage” with audiences, ideas and objects... or they may do something completely different.

More info: www.HipHarp.com or email publicity@hipharp.com / 781-483-3556

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