The Franklin Effect R&D Project at King’s College London

New Minerva Logo 11 small croppedAlthough the project is self-contained it is part of a planned programme of development for Minerva Scientifica and The Franklin Effect, which is planned to kick start the next project where one or more of the composers will be commissioned to create a new work based on the Research and Development findings which can become part of our main Minerva Scientifica Programming for UK touring.

Building on Minerva Scientifica – “Miriam” by Karen Wimhurst and “Mary Anning” by Judith Bingham, performed last year, we will carry out collaborative workshops with 4 singers, female scientists and composers with Judith Weir (Master of the Queen’s Music) as mentor. Together we will explore the intellectual and analytical processes common to music and science, developing ideas which spawn new and unexpected discoveries. Our focus is Rosalind Franklin and her work on DNA.

We will create four short partly improvised pieces reflecting our findings, loosely based on the musical form of Theme and variations, mirroring the investigative heart of science where one discovery re-spawns in many directions.

The variations will be linked by a Soundscape created using recordings of female collaborators speaking the names and contributions of important women scientists.

The work in progress will be evaluated by Prof. Nicholas Till (Centre for Opera and Music-Theatre Research Centre, Sussex University) and presented at King’s College London.