Barnes Symposium on Creative Research
Friday, January 9, 2 – 7pm
UCLA professor and concert pianist William Kinderman (right) will perform selections by Beethoven during his talk today.
Free; registration required.
About the Event
What does it mean to think creatively across disciplines? Presented in partnership with Rowan University, this symposium explores how creative thinking drives innovation in fields as varied as writing, medicine, and music. Drawing inspiration from Rowan’s pioneering PhD in Creativity—the first of its kind—three speakers share how unconventional approaches to research and problem-solving have shaped their work and opened new paths forward.
Schedule
Session One: 2 – 3pm
David Bianculli: “Seeing the Beatles”
Critic and author David Bianculli talks about his book in progress, See the Beatles, and the creativity of John, Paul, George, and Ringo visually as well as musically. Their approach to TV, movies, videos, photo spreads, and theater—and their own individual artwork and photography—was as innovative, and intentionally envelope-pushing, as the music they made.
Session Two: 4 – 5pm
Ezra Teitelbaum: “Figure and Ground: Strategies for Defining Space in Painting and Surgery”
Surgeon and author Ezra Teitelbaum discusses how his undergraduate training and continued interest in painting informs his understanding of anatomy and surgical safety in the operating room on a daily basis.
Session Three: 6–7 pm
William Kinderman: “A Process of Becoming to the ‘Upward Gaze’: Beethoven’s Choral Finale of the Ninth Symphony”
This presentation explores how Beethoven’s landmark Ninth Symphony takes shape from mysterious ambiguity and culminates in a cosmic gaze, as collective humanity seeks a sublime deity beyond the canopy of stars. The lecture is illustrated by excerpts performed at the piano from Beethoven’s Tempest sonata and other compositions prefiguring his choral symphony, first performed in Vienna just over 200 years ago.
Speakers
David Bianculli
Bianculli is a critic, columnist, radio personality, and Rowan University professor. He has served as the television critic for NPR’s Fresh Air since 1987 and is the author of numerous books on television, including Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” and The Platinum Age of Television: From “I Love Lucy” to “The Walking Dead,” How TV Became Terrific.
Ezra Teitelbaum
Teitelbaum is an associate professor of surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin, specializing in gastrointestinal surgery.
William Kinderman
Kinderman is a professor at UCLA and a formidable concert pianist and chamber musician as well as an international authority on Beethoven’s music and creative process. He is the author of several books, including Beethoven: A Political Artist in Revolutionary Times (2020), Wagner’s “Parsifal” (2018), and The Creative Process in Music from Mozart to Kurtág (2012).
Partner
This symposium is presented in collaboration with Rowan University’s PhD in Creativity.
Go Further
Daily Gallery Talks
Every day, our gallery specialists offer talks about the Barnes collection. Learn more about our history, founder, and collection.
PECO Free First Sunday Family Day: Sweet Sound
Start off the new year with us! Enjoy musical performances, family-friendly art activities, and free access to the collection and Henri Rousseau: A Painter’s Secrets.
Rousseau Film Series: Shorts Program
This series, curated by BlackStar Film Festival founder Maori Karmael Holmes, reflects on themes in Henri Rousseau: A Painter’s Secrets.