Quantum Worlds
Mehul Malik and Saroch Leedumrongwatthanakun,
Heriot-Watt University
Music & Poetry: a Creative Exploration of Quantum Physics
Forthcoming Events
28 October 2026 – Wester Hailes Library, 7pm
15 November 2026 – Glasgow Science Centre, 10am – 4.30pm, (drop-in)
16 November 2026 – Alloa Speirs Centre
17 November 2026 – Glenelg & Arnisdale Community Hall, 7pm
These are free events and part of the Quantum Fringe, organised by the Quantum Software Lab and sponsored by IQN Hub.
Join us for quantum physics, music and poetry.
Led by quantum physicist Erika Andersson, together with accordionist Karen Tweed, pianist Nick Lauener, and quantum physicist and jazz trumpet player Neel Mackinnon. Poems by computer scientist and poet Ruth Aylett.
Quantum Worlds – Music and Poetry will take you on a journey of mind-bending quantum concepts as well as everyday applications. Try some drop-in activities, speak to some scientists and enjoy performances and demonstrations. From tunes in superposition to poems about quantum love, with some quantum-entangled knitted mittens along the way, this event will provide an engaging and accessible overview of quantum concepts and how quantum technology is shaping our future.
Photo: Pianodrome, Edinburgh, June 2026
Karen Tweed, accordion
Nick Lauener, Piano
Dr Neel Mackinnon, trumpet
Steve Summers, cello & Noisy Toys
Prof. Erika Anderson, science, piano, fiddle
Poems by Prof. Ruth Aylett
Photo: Pianodrome, Edinburgh, June 2026
About the Performers:
Karen Tweed Karen took up the accordion at 11 and won the All-Ireland Accordion championship five times before the age of 19. After studying printmaking in Leeds, she turned professional in the late 1980s. She has appeared on over 70 albums and is in demand internationally as a composer, arranger and collaborator. Her projects include Secret North (2016/17), Accordionesse (2018), and her 2021 St Magnus International Festival commission ‘visitors’, as well as a video for Siamsa Tíre showcasing her music and art in Orkney. In 2025 she performed at the St Magnus International Festival with jazz accordionist Karen Street, composing new music inspired by Bessie Skea’s ‘A Glisk of Sun’ articles. She has worked with Kathryn Tickell, Margaret Robertson and Timo Alakotila, and is a sought-after tutor at universities, workshops and summer schools across the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia, and also teaches privately and online.
Erika Andersson started piano lessons at the age of 7, followed by guitar and violin. In parallel, she developed an interest in mathematics and science and ended up studying both science and music in her home country, Finland. After a PhD in Theoretical Physics at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, she came to Scotland in 2001 on a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship. She is currently a Professor of Physics at Heriot-Watt University.
Ruth Aylett is both a former researcher of AI and robotics and a currently published poet and novelist. She has occasionally combined the two in a poetry reading with a robot. Her two poetry pamphlets Pretty in Pink (4Word) and Queen of Infinite Space (Maytree) were published in 2021 and her first poetry collection, “Shouting in the Tunnel: Poems of Protest” (Culture Matters) came out in March 2026. For more, see ruthaylett.org
Steve Summers is an artist and science communicator, producing installations, shows and workshops through Noisy Toys since 2017. For more, see noisytoys.org