Lasting Tracks Challenge
CONTEST RESULTS
“Imagine it’s the end of the world. What piece(s) of music are you listening to, and why?“
We are excited to announce the results of the 2025-26 Lasting Tracks Challenge! This initiative invited participants to send in the music that they would want to listen to at the end of the world as an extension of “Dies Irae,” violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja’s musical response to apocalyptic themes, presented as part of the 2025-26 season.
Entrants had the option to submit a written statement explaining their musical selection for the chance to win a prize worth $500. The winning entry, listed below, was chosen from this selection.
Read the Winning Entry
“Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2” by Noa Zilberman, Associate Research Scholar at the Princeton University Gravity Initiative
My dad always looked like a boy. A tall, grown-up boy. Perhaps it’s due to his full head of hair and his long, skinny, shaven face, his slight sarcastic smirk and the twinkle in his eye. Now, as age catches up with him, the illusion is finally clashing with reality: wrinkles settling into his face, framed by a mane of silver threads.
He told me once: the end always comes faster than you think.
When you’re young, the sun sits tall in the sky, and it seems to not be moving at all; you have all the time in the world.
But then the sun seems to move so fast against the sky, racing toward the horizon, and before you know it – it’s gone.
Before I moved across the ocean, we used to walk at least once a week along the beach promenade. While my daddy-longlegs made “adagio” strides, my short-legged self walked “andante”. We’ve been walking across this beach since I was a toddler taking her first wobbly steps, through my teen years after shifts at the Burger Shop, and up to now, as I push the stroller in front of me and stop every little while to fix whatever the little one is fussing about.
We watched that big flaming ball of gas dip many times into the Mediterranean Sea. Each time throwing a fancy party of pinks and oranges across the sky, before hastily disappearing to appear on someone else’s horizon.
If it is truly the end – if the sun is racing down now toward the point of no return – I would press play on Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, performed by Evgeny Kissin, which I was also fortunate enough to see live.
I’ve been listening to that piece since the difficult age of 15, lying on my bedroom carpet, letting it sweep over me like a tornado. Aware of its potency, I have listened to it sparingly ever since, almost afraid of what it might do to me.
But the end of the world – well, that’s a special occasion.
I would rise with the alternating opening chords, and scatter across the sky with the warm colors of the lowest keys. I would pull myself up through the thick clouds and then, after a pause, drop like a feather with the sweeping strings.
Finally, when the last moment comes faster than expected – as my father promised – I would sit back, thank the world for all its colors, and watch as it sinks back into the abyss in an oh-so-typical Rachmaninoff ending: after a swing of keys sweeping up and down, a chord slams down, four times in quick succession, leaving no doubt that this is the end. Full stop.
Tum, ta-ta-tum.
About the Winner
NOA ZILBERMAN
Noa Zilberman is a theoretical physicist and Associate Research Scholar at the Princeton Gravity Initiative at Princeton University. Her work explores black holes, touching on fundamental questions about the nature of space and time – an interest that is also reflected in the way she experiences music and creativity. To her, music inhabits the elusive fourth dimension – time – unfolding within it, stretching it, and filling it with emotion. She enjoys playing the piano and improvising small melodies, and music remains a lasting source of grounding, connection, healing, and joy in her life.
In addition to her research, Noa is an active science communicator and is passionate about making the beauty of science accessible to all, a mission she considers an essential part of being a scientist. When she is not working, she can be found exploring forests with her husband and young son, dancing in the living room, and finding wonder in both the natural world and everyday life.
Learn more at noazilbermanphysics.com
Reflecting on why she entered the contest and what the experience meant, she shared:
I have always said that, in my final moments, I would want to hear Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff). When I saw the contest prompt, I simply could not resist responding. Being selected feels fantastic, and also very humbling. When I received the email, my heart nearly exploded with excitement in the middle of a math conference. I wrote the first draft on my phone while walking to a dance class at Dillon Gym.”
