What does particle physics and music have in common? Not that much on the first view, but one thing I learned over the years is, that music is very important in the life of my colleagues. And not only listening to it, a lot of my colleagues are also very active musicians. Some of them are even that talented, that they could have chosen a different career.
A good example is for example “Music on the lawn” at CERN a few weeks ago, when I happened to be there. All Saturday afternoon bands with a relation to CERN played on the outside area of the main canteen. And the performing quality of these bands was very impressive. But not only Jazz and Rock is playing an important role. When you ask a number of particle physicists what kind of instrument they play, you will find every kind of classical or modern instruments, just name it: cello, violin, viola, oboe, guitar or piano. Or singers! I know at least three colleagues here at DESY who are singing in choirs.
I sometimes joke around, that DESY is actually taking care of my musical education in terms of classical music (as I am privately listing to louder things). Whenever there is an important event at DESY, a short but high quality performance of classical music is included in the event. And I usually enjoy the music a lot — if its not taking too long 😉
Unfortunately I am not so talented to start a part-time musical career….
