guest composer

Fermi Forward Discovery Group’s annual guest artist and composer program fosters creative collaborations that help translate Fermilab’s complex scientific research into accessible, engaging experiences. In 2026, visual artist Eleftheria Lialios and composer Isaac Smith will bring their distinct perspectives to transform particle physics data into immersive visual and auditory works for the public.

Amy Nam, the 2025 Fermi Forward Discovery Group Guest Composer, will use her musical talents to transform complex physics concepts from research at Fermilab into accessible auditory experiences for the public. Through her project, “The Harp Inside Schrödinger’s Box,” Nam aims to blend original harp music and spoken word to both educate and engage new audiences with quantum physics research.

“Beyond the Visible”, a unique exhibit representing the collaboration between artists and scientists from the Fermilab at the Schingoethe Center of Aurora University. The exhibit aims to spark dialogue and bring a new perspective to the forefront of scientific inquiry and artistic expression and is open to the public until May.

Mischa Zupko, the 2024 guest composer at Fermilab, will work with Fermilab scientists to create musical interpretations of projects like the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. He will use actual mathematical models to create his compositions and plans to use the scientific model as the basis for the music.

Chicago-based composer and pianist Mischa Zupko has been named 2024 guest composer at Fermilab. Zupko will draw inspiration from themes of the universe, cosmic phenomena, and mathematical models to create music interpreting particle physics.

Mischa Zupko, adjunct faculty member of the School of Music at DePaul University, will collaborate with scientists at Fermilab and members of the Chicago-based Civitas Ensemble to create music based on scientific models in particle science.

Fermilab selected its next guest composer for the year-long residency program.

As this year’s composer-in-residence, they will create musical pieces in concert with Fermilab’s scientists.

From Nature, Feb. 17, 2021: Fermilab guest composer David Ibbett writes about his latest piece, Neutrino Music, and how bringing artists and scientists together on the stage can help them to communicate the complex beauty of our world in a language that everyone can understand and appreciate.

From Yale University, Jan. 22, 2021: For his new piece of music, “MicroBooNE,” David Ibbett, Fermilab’s first composer-in-residence, collaborated with physics professor Bonnie Fleming through a series of discussions about the science behind the experiment that inspired the composition. The neutrino-inspired piece premiered on Dec. 8, 2020, as part of the Fermilab Arts and Lectures Series.