On
Monday
afternoon,
students and professors from
the University of Michigan Data
Science for Music Challenge
Initiative
conducted
live
research
in
Hill
Auditorium
during a musical performance
and informational presentation
before nearly 200 community
members. James Kibbie, chair
of the School of Music, Theatre
& Dance Organ Department,
and Daniel Forger, professor of
mathematics, received a grant
from the Michigan Institute for
Data Science to collaborate on
the analysis of organ playing by
those with varying levels of music
education.
“(Forger) and I have a big
grant from MIDAS to study the
big data science applications
to specifically the Bach Trio
Sonatas,” Kibbie said. “And we
are looking at a number of things,
but especially how data can
reveal issues of performance and,
as Danny (Forger) says, ‘What
makes one sublime and another
ordinary.’”
Kibbie said they chose to
analyze the organ because it may
be easily analyzed given only one
note is played in each of the three
keyboards at a time.
“The right hand is controlling
one melody line, the left hand
another and the pedal a third,”
Kibbie said. “They are totally
independent, but every detail
matters so there’s no room for
faking.”
Music,
Theatre
&
Dance
graduate student Sarah Simko,
research assistant on the project,
told the crowd about the rich
history of the Frieze Memorial
Organ housed in Hill Auditorium,
which was used for the event’s
performances. Dating back to
1894, parts of the organ are older
than Hill Auditorium and were
moved there upon the building’s
construction.
“I always say that the organ is
part history, part engineering and
part actually being able to pick up
your fingers and put them back
down,” Simko said.
As it exists now, there are
7,599 pipes hidden behind the
walls of Hill, which produce the
music when someone plays the
keyboards electronically attached
to them. Simko said it is this
capacity of the Frieze Memorial
Organ that makes it an optimal
instrument for their research.
“Professor Forger is the first
person who figured out you can
take
this
mechanism
which
already exists and actually use it
for analytical purposes,” Simko
said.
In addition to finding an
optimal instrument, Kibbie and
Forger also had to determine a
good piece of music to analyze.
Kibbie explained to the audience
how they decided on Bach’s
sonatas
because
they
were
originally used as a teaching tool
for Bach’s eldest son and have
continued to be used in music
education programs for centuries
since. Until Bach, trio sonatas
were often written for three
distinct instruments played by
three individual musicians.
“Johann Sebastian Bach was
the first composer to realize how
beautifully this texture adapts to
being played by one person on the
organ,” Kibbie said.
Forger
cited
Bach
as
a
fundamental
baseline
for
an emerging study into the
“grammar” of music. There are
thousands of chord progressions
possible on the organ of which
Bach only uses about 11 percent,
Forger’s research suggests.
michigandaily.com
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Tuesday, April 2, 2019
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 97
©2019 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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See MSA, Page 3
On Monday evening, about
75 students attended Muslim
Creatives Collect hosted by the
University of Michigan’s Muslim
Students’ Association at the
Kerrytown Concert House. The
program marked the beginning
of
the
Islamic
Engagement
Week, which is a week-long
initiative aimed at highlighting
the
narratives,
history
and
culture of Muslims. About 75
students and other members of
the Ann Arbor community were
at the event.
The
event
consisted
of
performances involving music,
poetry and dance as well as a
panel discussing the current and
future status of Muslim creatives
in the country.
Along
with
the
Muslims
Creatives Collect event, the
Islamic
Engagement
Week
will also include a Muslims
in Astronomy event Tuesday
night, a Meet a Muslim event on
Wednesday and a Muslims in the
Arts event Friday afternoon.
Rackham student Bedar Noor
participated as part of a step
performance during the event.
He spoke about his appreciation
for step and the way in which
it has allowed him to express
himself.
“Step is a great way to show
that you can join an organization
that
is
rooted
in
different
cultures and histories and I
wanted to show to everyone that
there is a different medium to
express yourself,” Noor said.
On
Monday
evening,
South
African
activists
and
educators Klaas Mokgomole and
Mmamalema Molepo spoke to a
group of more than 30 students in
the Ross School of Business about
the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian
conflict and its relation to the
apartheid government in South
Africa. The event was co-hosted
by
Africans
for
Peace,
an
organization that writes about
global affairs from an African
perspective, in addition to Hillel,
Chabad and Stand With Us, a pro-
Israel student organization.
The
discussion,
which
attracted a predominantly white
and Jewish audience, focused
on Mokgomole and Molepo’s
experiences
visiting
Israel
after becoming involved with
the Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions movement as university
students in South Africa.
City Council
focuses on
A2 housing
affordability
Student organizations like College Democrats,
Climate Action movement attend meeting
The Michigan Daily recently
sat down with E. Royster Harper,
vice president for student life at
the University of Michigan, to
discuss the aftermath of the false
shooter incident, the newly elected
president and vice president of
Central Student Government, the
recent college admissions scandal
and more.
The Michigan Daily: After the
false alarm of the active shooter
incident, many students have
cited their confusion and worries
about the University’s ability to
communicate during emergency
situations in a timely manner. What
is your advice for students and how
do you respond to these concerns?
Harper: First, get off of the
police scanner. Listening to the
police scanner and thinking that
everything that goes across the
scanner is correct will only make
it worse.
VP Harper
speaks on
admissions,
CSG results
CAMPUS LIFE
Discussions also touch
on sexual misconduct,
false shooter incident
MSA hosts night of performances to
kick off Islamic Engagement week
Coffee shop-style event included dance, music, poetry by Muslim creatives
Advocates
talk Israeli-
Palestinian
controversy
CAMPUS LIFE
At Monday’s session of the
Ann Arbor City Council, several
student organizations, including
the University of Michigan’s
chapter of College Democrats, the
Climate Action Movement and
Roosevelt Institute, as well Ann
Arbor residents, spoke to urge
city councilmembers to support
a resolution to direct funds to
address
affordable
housing,
climate action and pedestrian
safety.
The county levied a new tax that
started in December to provide for
county mental health and county
sheriff’s services. However, a
quarter of the proceeds have been
returned to several cities that fund
their own police departments to be
used at their discretion. Ann Arbor
is set to receive $2.2 million from
the partial rebate. This resolution
would direct the returns from the
countywide millage to address
affordable housing, climate action
and pedestrian safety.
The resolution was sponsored
by Mayor Chris Taylor and
Councilmember Kathy Griswold,
D-Ward 2, and passed 6-4, with
Councilmembers Jane Lumm,
I-Ward 2, Jack Eaton, D-Ward
4, Ali Ramlawi, D-Ward 5, and
Jeff Hayner, D-Ward 1, voting no.
The resolution mirrors Taylor’s
40-40-20 policy, a plan that
pledged 40 percent of funds for
affordable housing, 40 percent for
climate action and 20 percent for
pedestrian safety.
At the beginning of the meeting,
the Student Advisory Council
presented their annual report,
which made recommendations
regarding several issues impacting
the student community.
SAC advises local government
and
institutions
on
issues
impacting all students of Ann
Arbor. The SAC was formed in 2017
and consists of two undergraduate
students appointed by the Central
Student
Government,
two
graduate students, two students
from local high schools and a city
councilmember liaison.
Though their report did not
specifically address the millage
allocation
resolution,
they
touched on many similar themes.
SAC
Chair
and
Engineering
junior Kenji Yeoh said the group
focused on two key issues: campus
safety and housing affordability.
SAC urged councilmembers to
continue to allocate funds for
affordable housing and to create
more affordable housing units.
“The
student
population
continues to grow, putting a
strain on the housing system in
Ann Arbor,” Yeoh said. “There
has not been enough progress
on creating more affordable
housing units.”
See CITY , Page 3
See HARPER, Page 3
CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily
LSA sophomore Fareah Fysudeen performs a poem at the Muslim Creatives Collect at the Kerrytown Concert House Monday evening.
University researchers examine how
data science can interpret music
James Kibbie, Daniel Forger study organ playing by those with varying melodic skillsets
RACHEL LEUNG
Daily Staff Reporter
South African activists
critique BDS movement in
conversation about apartheid
Music, Theatre & Dance junior Joseph Mutone performs a Bach Trio Sonata at the Understanding How the Brain Processes Music Presentation in Hill Auditorium Monday.
See SMTD, Page 3
LIAT WEINSTEIN
Daily Staff Reporter
SARAH KUNKEL/Daily
MELANIE TAYLOR
Daily Staff Reporter
MICHAEL ZHANG
Daily Staff Reporter
RACHEL CUNNINGHAM,
MADELINE MCLAUGHLIN &
CALLIE TEITELBAUM
Daily News Editor &
Daily Staff Reporters
See CONTROVERSY, Page 3