Osvaldo Golijov and Alan Lightman: Awe and Understanding

Osvaldo Golijov, composer Alan Lightman, physicist, novelist, and essayist Jennifer L. Roberts, moderator

Before the culminating performance of the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Creation festival, composer Osvaldo Golijov joins physicist, novelist, and essayist Alan Lightman for a wide-ranging conversation at the intersection of music, science, and wonder. Drawing inspiration from Lightman's The Miraculous from the Material and the spirit of curiosity that animates Golijov's creative life, the two explore the questions that have long united artists and scientists: Where does awe come from? What can creativity reveal that reason alone cannot? And why do the deepest mysteries continue to compel us, even when they resist answers? 

For both men, the search itself is essential. Whether through equations or melody, observation or imagination, science and art offer different instruments for approaching the same enduring mysteries. Their conversation considers how each discipline transforms curiosity into discovery, and how our impulse to create may itself be one of humanity's most profound clues to the meaning we seek.