Harry Potter Septet To Premiere December 5

What a cool project!

The book that launched a thousand marketing schemes has now spawned a classical chamber piece, composed by a Stony Brook music major with a flair for mathematical wizardry.

The Harry Potter Septet, an ambitious but accessible composition for string quartet, piano, and two female voices, premieres Friday, December 5, at 4:00 pm at the Ravenclaw — sorry, Tabler — Center for Arts, Culture & Humanities. It’s the work of multi-talented senior Vi Hart, whose obsession with J.K. Rowling’s adolescent sorcerer dates back to the sixth grade.

Hart, who received a URECA grant in support of the project, spent more than a year composing under the guidance of her personal Dumbledore, Prof. Perry Goldstein. Somehow, she also found time for research in higher mathematics, authoring and presenting papers on "Using Binary Numbers in Music" and "Computational Balloon Twisting."

You can read more about Vi Hart on her personal Web page and at the URECA site, where she’s been named Researcher of the Month.

Admission to the Dec. 5 performance is free.