Throughout history, music and science have often spoken to one another. For centuries, composers drew inspiration from physics and mathematics, weaving harmony from numbers and proportions. But with the extraordinary advances of biology—especially since the unveiling of DNA’s double helix—life itself has begun to sing through music. At times, scientific concepts have been transposed directly into sound; at others, discoveries have simply sparked the imagination, becoming the seed of new creation.

The Muse-IC project invites composers to step into the world of researchers, to immerse themselves in the language of science, and to translate its hidden beauty into music.

Since its launch in 2017, the project has opened a space of dialogue between science and art. Six composers took part in its first edition, each crafting a work for an ensemble of up to eight musicians—piano, string quartet, clarinet, harp, and percussion. From a selection of recent discoveries, they chose the theme that resonated most deeply with them, working hand in hand with scientists to capture its essence. This adventure culminated in a concert on March 12, 2019, at Salle Cortot in Paris, where musicians of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Orchestre National de France gave voice to these new works. In 2022, Muse-IC crossed the Atlantic to the Museum of Science in Boston, where the Juventas New Music Ensemble carried its vision to new ears.

The journey continued in 2024 with a second edition, The Birth of Planets and the Molecules of Life, presented on May 13 at Sorbonne University’s Grand Amphithéâtre Malesherbes. Four new works for baroque instruments were unveiled, bridging past and present in a dialogue between tradition and discovery.

Each new edition of Muse-IC culminates in a concert-conference, where music and science meet on stage: composers bring discoveries to life through sound, while scientists share the stories behind their research. These encounters invite audiences to hear science differently—as a source not only of knowledge, but of wonder, imagination, and creation.