Marian Miner Cook
Athenaeum

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cultural life at CMC

Mathematical Secrets in Music

Thu, October 2, 2025

Lunch Program

Eugenia Cheng

Math and music are often said to be related, but does this go any deeper than the fact that they both involve counting? In this lively hybrid of talk and concert, mathematician and pianist Eugenia Cheng uncovers mathematical structures in some of her favorite pieces of classical music. She will perform works by Bach, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Chopin, Ravel, and Debussy. The music will be interspersed with discussion of a wide range mathematical concepts in the music including lowest common multiples, prime numbers, fractions, fractals, braids and more.

Eugenia Cheng is a mathematician, educator, author, public speaker, columnist, concert pianist, artist, and composer. She was an early pioneer of math on YouTube and her videos have been viewed over 20 million times to date. She is the author of popular math books including "Unequal" and "How to Bake Pi" and she wrote the "Everyday Math" column for the Wall Street Journal for over seven years.

Cheng is Scientist in Residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, won tenure in Pure Mathematics at the University in Sheffield, and holds a Ph.D. in pure mathematics from the University of Cambridge.

Photo credit: Brian McConkey

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Marian Miner Cook
Athenaeum

Mathematical Secrets in Music

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Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum

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Marian Miner CookAthenaeum

Mathematical Secrets in Music

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Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum

Contact

Marian Miner Cook
Athenaeum