Seeing the unseeable: Exploring the creative process in music and maths

`Join a panel speaker event with mathematicians and musicians to explore the connections in the creative process for music and mathematics

The synergy between mathematics and music stretches back centuries and extends into contemporary creative processes. The panel will examine how maths can inspire and stimulate new musical forms and structures. And vice-versa, how music might enable mathematicians to transcend the limitations of the visual, by exploring aural landscapes.

Hear from a distinguished panel working across mathematics and engineering, composition and performance, all bringing diverse experiences and approaches to this area. They will share insight into creativity from within their own practices by exploring the connections and differences between their creative processes.

Composer Emily Howard’s work has been described as an innovative fusion of music, mathematics and multimedia; she describes her award-winning work Torus as an orchestral geometry. Known for her spiral array, Elaine Chew is both pianist and Professor of Engineering, now forging new paths at the intersection of music and cardiovascular science. Composer and organist Lauren Redhead has written extensively about aesthetics and the creative process for musicians, while mathematician Marcus du Sautoy’s most recent book Blueprints explores how mathematics shapes the practices of many creative artists but also how important creativity is for mathematical discovery.

Chair:

Professor Rachel Bearon, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences and Professor of Mathematical Biolology.

Panellists:

• Professor Elaine Chew, Professor of Engineering in the Department of Engineering and School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences at King’s College London,
• Professor Emily Howard, Professor in Composition and Head of Artistic Research at the RoyalNorthern College of Music in Manchester,
• Dr Lauren Redhead, Head of School for Music, English and Theatre, Goldsmiths, University of London,
• Professor Marcus du Sautoy, Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and Professor of Mathematics; Fellow of New College, University of Oxford.

Elaine Chew

Elaine Chew is a Professor of Engineering in the Department of Engineering and School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences at King’s College London. An operations researcher and pianist, Elaine received a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Mathematical and Computational Sciences (Honors) and Music Performance (Distinction) at Stanford University, and Master's and PhD in Operations Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where she proposed the spiral array model. Prior to joining King's she was a senior researcher at the STMS Lab (IRCAM) in Paris 2019-2022, Professor of Digital Media at QMUL 2011-2019, and Assistant then tenured Associate Professor at USC in Los Angeles 2001-2011.

A pioneering music information researcher, she is forging new pathways between music and cardiovascular science. She is Principal Investigator for two ERC projects: COSMOS, which aims to use citizen data science to probe music structures created in performance; and HEART.FM, dedicated to building tools to study how these structures affect cardiac response.

Her work has been recognised by through awards, including the Falling Walls Breakthrough of the Year 2023, the European Research Council, Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER), and Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard.

Emily Howard

Emily Howard is Professor in Composition and Head of Artistic Research at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK. She is a composer, a curator and founding director of PRiSM, the RNCM Centre for Practice & Research in Science & Music.

Her work has been described as an innovative fusion of music, mathematics and multimedia and is widely recorded and performed including at the BBC Proms, Aldeburgh Festival, Wien Modern and Manchester International Festival.

She is an Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Liverpool, Department of Mathematical Sciences, where she was previously Leverhulme Artist in Residence.

Her accolades include two British Composer Awards (now Ivor Novello Awards), recognition from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, and Honorary Fellowships from Lincoln College, University of Oxford and the Royal Academy of Arts.

In 2025, she was appointed to The Ivors Academy Board as a Director.

Lauren Redhead

Lauren is Head of School for Music, English and Theatre at Goldsmiths, University of London. She is a composer of experimental music, a performer of contemporary music for the organ, and an author of texts on 20th and 21st century music, and practice research.

Her recent work has been concerned with the methodological critique of practice research, the development of methodologies within practice research, speculative notation, and writing about living composers.

Marcus du Sautoy

Marcus du Sautoy is the Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He is author of nine books including his most recent book Blueprints: how mathematics shapes creativity (Fourth Estate 2025). He is author of two plays including I is a Strange Loop (Faber 2021) which was performed at the Barbican in London in which he was also lead actor.

He has presented numerous radio and TV series including a four part landmark TV series for the BBC called The Story of Maths. He works extensively with a range of arts organisations bringing science alive for the public from The Royal Opera House to the Glastonbury Festival.

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