Einstein Shock
The Making of a Global Celebrity

Organized by

Massimiano Bucchi
Senior Fellow 2022–2023

Informations

Venue & accessibility info: Meridian Hall, Collegium Helveticum

This is a public event. Participation is free of charge and registration is not required. It is followed by a small reception.

“On November 11, 1922, on the Japanese ship Kitano Maru, the rumour has spread. It seems that the most famous passenger of the ship has received the most important scientific prize worldwide.” With this passage as a starting point, Massimiano Bucchi delves into a historical reflection on Albert Einstein and takes us on a six-week journey through Japan, during which the newly awarded Nobel laureate received worldwide recognition for his work. 

Passages of reading alternate with musical quotations from the time of Albert Einstein. Kateryna Tereshchenko (piano) and Hanna Weinmeister (violin) will add historical cultural context. One day prior, on the evening of April 19, Massimiano Bucchi will hold the reading in Italian at the ETH main building, with Arturo Stàlteri accompanying the reading musically.

Both evenings are organized in cooperation between the ETH Cattedra de Sanctis and the Collegium Helveticum, where Massimiano Bucchi is currently a visiting professor and senior fellow, respectively.

Biographies

Massimiano Bucchi teaches Science, Technology and Society at the University of Trento, where he also directs the international SCICOMM Master’s program. He has been a visiting professor in Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania. He is the author of essays in international journals such as Nature, Science, PLOS ONE and about ten books published in more than twenty countries. The most recent is Playing dice with the world. An investigation of Einstein in Stockholm (Bompiani, 2022). He collaborates with Corriere della Sera and the television program Superquark (Rai1).

Kateryna Tereshchenko was a member of the Orchestra Academy at the Zurich Opera House (2013–2016), with performances among others on Die Soldaten by Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Die Hamletmaschine by Wolfgang Rihm, and Balanchine Ballett Thema mit vier Variationen for Piano and String Orchestra by Paul Hindemith. In 2015, she produced her first CD recording with piano works of Chopin, Brahms and Rachmaninov. Kateryna has performed as a soloist, chamber musician and a collaborative pianist at concerts and festivals in Ukraine, Italy, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. Currently, Kateryna acts as Korrepetitior (Departement PreCollge) at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).

Hanna Weinmeister is laureate of numerous international competitions, including the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg (1991), the Concours International Jacques Thibaud (1994) and the International Parkhouse Award in London. She studied violin in Salzburg with Bruno Steinschaden, in Vienna with Gerhard Schulz, and in Lübeck with Zakhar Bron.
In addition to her position as first concertmaster at the Zurich Opera House, Hanna performs as a soloist and chamber musician with violin and viola. She is member of the Tetzlaff Quartett, the Trio Weinmeister, the Krenek Ensemble and the Ensemble Labyrinth and is guest at various international chamber music Festivals.