Monash Memo - 22 August 2001

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Briefs

Rigg concert series

A series of free concerts capturing the beauty and brilliance of the piano will be held at Monash and the Victorian College of the Arts in August and September.

The Rigg Bequest Free Concert Series features some of Victoria’s leading pianists  performing alongside the state’s most talented younger musicians in the early stages of their professional careers.

Performers this year will include the Flinders Quartet, who were finalists in the National Chamber Music Competition in July, and promising young violinist Judith Hurst.

Now in its fourth year, the series is the result of a grant to Monash from the Colin and Cicely Rigg Bequest, intended to support the promotion of music in Victoria with an emphasis on Victorian-based musicians.

The first concert for this year will be held on 31 August, with Peteris Vasks and Sidika Ozdil. It will also include the contemporary piano trio of Isin Cakmakcioglu on violin, Rachel Atkinson on cello and Robert Chamberlain on piano.

A Brahms quintet will be performed by Victorian College of the Arts students under the direction of Marco Van Pagee.

The concert will be held at 8 pm in the Music Auditorium at Clayton campus.

Juggling by numbers

Both students and staff were entertained recently by a mesmerising mix of juggling and maths.

‘The Mathematics of Juggling’ is the latest in a series of informal and fun mathematics lectures held each Tuesday between 1 pm and 2 pm in Science Lecture Theatre S14 on Clayton campus.

The lecture was presented by Dr Burkard Polster, Logan Fellow in the Department of Mathematics and part-time juggle master, who says that for him, juggling is a way of life.

According to Dr Polster, juggling is all about putting together patterns in as efficient a way as possible, not unlike the calculations of computers or juggling personal schedules and landing schedules for airplanes.

For more information on upcoming events, contact Dr Marty Ross at Marty.Ross@sci.monash.edu.au

Book Talkers

 ‘Australia on the page’ was the theme of the second Monash Book Talkers, held recently at the Clayton and Peninsula campuses.

Secondary school students enjoyed the tales of four popular Australian authors during program, which acknowledged the centenary of Federation

The program included a performance by Monash theatre studies students and a presentation by authors John Marsden, Archie Fusillo, Doris Pilkington and Irini Savvides.

The visiting students were given the opportunity to voice their opinions at a session titled ‘A book I have read that has told me something important about Australia’, and an interactive question-and-answer segment gave them the chance to quiz the authors.

The next Book Talkers program, with the theme ‘Boys’ stuff’, will be held on Tuesday 23 October at the Alexander Theatre, Clayton campus.

Political opinion

Just what the public thinks of politicians will be the subject of a work-in-progress seminar next month by Monash senior lecturer and head of Criminal Justice and Criminology Dr Colleen Lewis.

Titled ‘Parliamentarians: what the public thinks and why’, the seminar will initially be presented in the Manton rooms SGO2 on Thursday 6 September at 1 pm.

Dr Lewis will later deliver her findings to the inaugural conference of the Parliamentary Studies Unit, to be held in Parliament House in Melbourne on 17 September.

Here’s a tip

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