Isotone Concert Series

ISOTONE CONCERT, OAK RIDGE ORIGINAL, DEBUTS AT NEW YORK THEATER OCT. 24

To see a review of the concert by a New York City writer, click here.

    Billed as "a collision of physics and music," the Isotone Concert born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, debuted in New York City recently to a highly receptive audience. Isotone is both a physics and musical term.
 
    In its New York debut Oct. 24, 2011, the Isotone Concert brought together small-town and big-city talent. Commissioned works by New York composers Victoria Bond and Larry Spivack were presented along with music by composers Mark Harrell and Scott Eddlemon, both with the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, in tributes to world-famous physicists Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking.
 
    The concert reunited Juilliard School of Music alumni Scott Eddlemon, percussionist and founder of the Isotone Concert Series; his wife, Susan Lang Eddlemon, violinist and first woman to earn a Ph.D. degree in violin from the school, and Larry Spivack, percussionist. Pianist Pam Robertson and vocalists Christina Mullikin and Sarah Reed rounded out the ensemble.
 
    The concert presented unique works based on three isotopic spectra collected live onstage with a gamma spectroscopy system, a hair-raising Van de Graaff generator, and audience “particle-clicker” participation. Also featured was a collection of physics songs highlighted by Tom Lehrer’s famous rendition of “The Elements.”
 
    The Isotone Concert was performed at Peter Norton Symphony Space’s Leonard Nimoy Thalia, 2537 Broadway at 95th St.
 
     Isotone concerts are jointly sponsored by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association and the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge.
 
    Becky Ball, concert reviewer, wrote in the March 2010 issue of The Oak Ridger: "This out-of-the-box program fed our brains with fascinating information and our musical souls with unique rhythms, dynamics and timbre!"

The Isotone Concert Series, which was launched in 2008, presented two concerts annually over the past three seasons on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the American Museum of Science & Energy in Oak Ridge (see directions and map ). The series is aimed at students and adults fascinated by both music and science.

In the 2011-2012 season only one Isotone concert will be presented, as one of the six concerts in ORCMA's Chamber Music Series. The Isotone concert on April 1, 2012 is a bonus concert: subscribers to the Chamber Music Series can attend this concert for free.

			NEXT ISOTONE CONCERT IS ON APRIL FOOL'S DAY! A tribute to Belgian Physicist Georges-Henri Lemaitre, the concert on April 1, 2012, will include a new work by composer Don Bowyer, chair of the Department of Music at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Bowyer will play trombone along with Susan Eddlemon, violin, and Scott Eddlemon, percussion. Lemaitre has been called the father of the Big Bang theory. He revealed that the universe is expanding! Subsequent findings based on images of supernovas from land-based telescopes and the orbiting Hubbell Space Telescope have shown that the universe is expanding at an ever-increasing rate of acceleration.   Note: The concert will be performed in the auditorium of the American Museum of Science & Energy in Oak Ridge.

Isotone has a double meaning of importance to musicians and scientists. Isotone means a single tone. Isotone also refers to any of the nuclides that have the same number of neutrons but different numbers of protons (just as "isotope" refers to any nuclides with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons).

Each concert offers a tribute to a famous scientist, such as Marie Curie, Richard Feynman, and Stephen Hawking. At least one work in each concert is an original composition commissioned by the Isotone founders and premiered at the concert. Scott and Susan Eddlemon, founders of the Isotone Series, are graduates of the prestigious Juilliard Music School in New York City. They are regular performers in the unique, enlightening, and sometimes humorous concerts, which also feature museum equipment as well as soloists who sing or play instruments such as the piano, flute, and harp.

SCIENCE TO DEBUT AT NEW YORK CONCERT

    Billed as "a collision of physics and music," the Isotone Concert Series has been energizing audiences in the "Atomic City" of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for three years. Isotone is both a physics and musical term.
 
    In its New York debut Oct. 24, 2011, the Isotone Concert will bring together small-town and big-city talent. Commissioned works by New York composers Victoria Bond and Larry Spivack will be presented along with music by Tennessee composers Mark Harrell and Scott Eddlemon in tributes to world-famous physicists Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.
 
    The concert will reunite Juilliard School of Music alumni Scott Eddlemon, percussionist and founder of the Isotone Concert Series; his wife, Susan Lang Eddlemon, violinist, and Larry Spivack, percussionist. Pianist Pam Robertson and vocalists Christina Mullikin and Sarah Reed will round out the ensemble.
 
    The concert will present unique works based on three isotopic spectra collected live onstage with a gamma spectroscopy system, a hair-raising Van de Graaff generator and audience “particle-clicker” participation. Also featured will be a collection of physics songs highlighted by Tom Lehrer’s famous rendition of “The Elements.”
 
    The Isotone Concert will be performed Monday, Oct. 24, at Peter Norton Symphony Space’s Leonard Nimoy Thalia, 2537 Broadway at 95th St.
 
    Tickets cost $30 for adults and $15 for patrons under 30. Tickets may be purchased online at tickets.symphonyspace.org or by calling 212-864-5400.  More information is available at www.isotone.org.
 
   Isotone concerts are jointly sponsored by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association and the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge.
 
    Becky Ball, concert reviewer, wrote in the March 2010 issue of The Oak Ridger: "This out-of-the-box program fed our brains with fascinating information and our musical souls with unique rhythms, dynamics and timbre!"