Art in the life of mathematicians

I have always admired the abstraction ability of composers. The ingenious construction of beautiful patterns that can evoke such powerful emotions seems nothing short of magical. While mathematicians too construct beautiful patterns, I fear that few outside the math community appreciate that beauty or find any magic in it. I hope that this wonderful collection of articles, written by mathematicians who are themselves artists, will help better explain the many varied connections between mathematics and the arts, and illuminate better the beauty and magic in math. -Avi Wigderson, Institute for