The festival, expected to take place in New York at the Highline Ballroom March 3, will feature eight scientists and academics who moonlight as musicians. The Amygdaloids, for instance, have a base composition of four New York University scientists: neuroscientists Joseph LeDoux and Daniela Schiller, Ph.D. candidate Nina Galbraith Curley and environmental sciences professor Tyler Volk.
Meanwhile, performers with a “great appreciation for science” are joining in, like Wainwright, Dream Syndicate vet Steve Wynn, Grammy nominee Gary Lucas and former dBs co-leader Peter Holsapple.
Now, throw in Australian go-go dancer-slash-variety show star Anna Copa Cabanna as the emcee and you’re sure to have a concoction of super-duper fun.
Dr. LeDoux conceived of the event and other performers include Daniel Levitin, a cognitive psychologist, neuroscientist and author who performed with Mel Torme, Blue Oyster Cult and David Byrne, and evolutionary geneticist Pardis Sabeti, who leads the Boston band Thousand Days.