Wes McRae | November 13, 2023 – Atlanta, GA

Thanks to the Center for Music Technology's guest lecture series, School of Music students continue to benefit from access to global experts in the music technology field.

"Music technology is a very unique program," said Gil Weinberg, professor and director of the Center for Music Technology. "It's the only performing arts related degree that we have at Tech. Even around the world, there aren't too many people combining music, robotics, electrical engineering, computer science, and all of this with performance."

"The Center for Music Technology Seminar Series brings our students access to thought leaders, academic leaders, and artistic leaders, and lets the students see how what we study can be practiced."

This semester's seminar series featured presentations from new faculty at the school, Alexandria Smith, Henrik von Coler, and Jeff Albert, serving as an introduction to their areas of research. Philippe Pasquier, professor at Simon Fraser University, spoke from his expertise on creative artificial intelligence and generative art. From Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, Blair Kaneshiro focused on using brain and behavioral responses to better understand how we perceive and engage with music, sound, and images. Laura Emmery, associate professor of music theory at Emory University, co-presented with Madeleine Hackney on how dance and music can help patients in a rehabilitation context, and finally Jeffrey Snyder, director of electronic music at Princeton University, discussed new electronic instrument design and robotics.

In addition to the seminar series, John Bischoff recently visited a joint session of Albert's History of Jazz class joined by Stephen Garrett's Music Interface Design and Computer Supported Interactive Music class.

"Bischoff talked about some of his recent pieces and showed some examples of earlier works performed by The Hub, which is a networked music ensemble of which he is a member," Albert said. "He played recordings of some of the pieces and showed the students the software used to create the pieces."

"Bischoff is a pioneer of networked computer music performance," Albert said. "Our students have read about him and his music in their electronic music history classes, and it is exciting to see them ask him questions in person and then observe the expansion of their thinking as a result. His talk definitely gave me new creative ideas.”

The seminar series will expand next semester in connection with the Institute for Data Engineering and Science, Weinberg said. "Next semester we're hoping to extend from music technology to generative arts and music. We believe that with recent advances and public interest in generative arts, this is the perfect time to bring leaders in the field to campus."

"By doing so, we can empower our students and faculty to explore innovative ways of integrating AI, music, and the arts."