An experiment in arts and lectures, combining performance and presentation in the form of Call and Response: a specialist in any field gives a presentation—of any kind—in their area of expertise, followed by an informal Q&A, and a musical response by some of the Bay Area’s finest creative musicians.

Curated by Kristina Dutton, the series recurs roughly every other month; this show, held on Saturday, May 9, 2015 at The Emerald Tablet, features a presentation by evolutionary biologist Arnaud Martin and a response by composer, pianist, and electronic musician Chris Brown:

Arnaud Martin is a butterfly geneticist interested in how DNA codes for shapes and how biodiversity has emerged from the tinkering of genetic information. He’s a Master in Molecular and Cellular Biology (Universite Lyon I / Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, 2007), a PhD in Evolutionary Genetics (University of California Irvine, 2012), a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Cornell University, 2012-2014 and at University of California Berkeley, 2014-present).

Chris Brown, composer, pianist, and electronic musician, creates music for acoustic instruments with interactive electronics, for computer networks, and for improvising ensembles. Collaboration and improvisation are consistent themes in his work, along with the invention and performance of new electronic instruments and software. He is a founding member of The HUB, the pioneering network music ensemble, and has composed many interactive works for the percussionist William Winant (Iconicities, New World Records.)   His trio with Winant and saxophonist Frank Gratkowski were featured on the 2009 Donaueschingen Musiktage.  His most recent music explores microtonal tunings, including 6Primes, for piano in 13-limit just intonation, Arcade for string quartet, andRagamala Chiaroscuro, for wind trio.  Recordings are available on New World, Tzadik,  Pogus, Intakt,  Rastascan, Ecstatic Peace, Red Toucan, SIRR, Leo, and Artifact labels. He is currently a Professor of Music at Mills College and Co-Director of the Center for Contemporary Music (CCM).