What does your brain sound like? That imaginative question was at the heart of Hearing the Invisible, a groundbreaking interdisciplinary exhibition that took place in February at the University of Arizona. Through a collaboration between the School of Music and the Health Sciences, the project turned real brainwave data into sound, visual art, and immersive experience.
Now, after the event’s success, Professor Cynthia Stokes—director, opera specialist, and one of the project’s creative leads—reflects on the challenges and triumphs of bringing science and the arts into harmony.
“From my point of view, Hearing the Invisible was a large-scale art installation,” Stokes said in a recent interview. “It included a visual component, interactive stations, interviews, and an original musical composition based on EEG data.”
Working alongside Dr. Tally M. Largent-Milnes from the Department of Pharmacology, Stokes helped shape the vision from an early conversation about the sound of an EKG into a full-fledged experience that included a 25-foot walkable brain, augmented reality tools, and live musical performances based on brain signals.
“The arts are an extraordinary way to explain the world,” Stokes said. “They help us unpack complex ideas and make them accessible, whether you’re a child or a PhD.”
The composition, created by Michael Vince (DMA ’24), transformed the electrical signals of the brain into music, performed live by student musicians. Stokes credits her team—composer, designers, and technicians—for navigating the technical complexity of turning data into melody, ensuring it could be sung and performed meaningfully.
“Getting everything to work at the right moment was definitely a challenge,” she said. “But the result was remarkable.”
More than just a sensory experience, Hearing the Invisible served as a model for what’s possible when academic silos break down.
“Too often, universities keep disciplines apart,” Stokes noted. “But in real life, the arts, science, and technology are constantly intersecting. This project showed the beauty of what can happen when those worlds meet.”
From brainwaves to soundscapes, Stokes hopes the impact of Hearing the Invisible continues to resonate—proving that even the most complex systems can be felt, heard, and understood through the arts.