DeKALB – At the next STEM Café, the audience will get a chance to hear, play and learn about the berimbau, a musical bow or single-stringed percussion instrument from Brazil, with Northern Illinois University music professor Gregory Beyer.
The STEM Café will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Fatty’s Pub & Grille, 1312 W. Lincoln Highway in DeKalb.
The event is free and open to the public, with food and drinks available to buy from Fatty’s.
At the STEM Café, Beyer will discuss the development of Arcomusical, a nonprofit organization founded to promote the berimbau musical bow and spread its joy far and wide.
He said he plans to discuss the berimbau within multiple cultural contexts, share video examples of its amazing diversity, demonstrate its versatility by playing some holiday music and discuss the mathematics behind tuning procedures and how they open up incredible possibilities for creative composition.
“I want people to take in the simplicity of the instrument,” Beyer said in a news release. “The beauty of its voice, and the way in which it can be used to tell stories, accompany singing and be combined in small groups to create melodic and harmonic potential.
“The berimbau means the world to me, yet nothing about the instrument is precious. I want people to have the opportunity to play the instruments themselves and to walk away with a smile and a sense of having learned something new and different.”
Northern Illinois University STEM Cafés are sponsored by NIU STEAM and are designed to increase public awareness of the critical role that STEM fields play in our everyday lives.
For information, call Judith Dymond at 815-753-4751 or email jdymond@niu.edu.
Source: The Daily Chronicle
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