Sorta Voce was commissioned by cellist Matt Haimovitz as part of his new “Primavera Project,” and will appear on the first CD release of the project on the PENTATONE label in June 2021. Haimovitz’s project is a collaboration of music and art inspired by one of the most widely admired and enigmatic paintings of the Renaissance, Botticelli’s Primavera (ca 1480), …
World premiere of Machover’s VocaGammified
We are pleased to announce that the legendary soprano, Renée Fleming, will be premiering Tod Machover's new work, VocaGammified, at a Cal Performances recital on April 29th. The piece - written especially for Renée - is for voice, string quartet and electronics, and is based on Gamma research from MIT showing that certain forms of …
Continue reading "World premiere of Machover’s VocaGammified"
Kronos Quartet features “Gammified”
https://youtu.be/koBcB9mhon0 The Kronos Quartet has posted a special website featuring Tod Machover's composition "Gammified," which they commissioned in 2019 as part of their "Fifty for the Future" series. The composition is based on Media Lab research into the reparative effects of 40 Hz. audio signals on the brain. The site includes a new Kronos recording for string quartet and electronics; the …
Unscripted interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDGHHqnFNq0 Check out this new interview with Tod Machover from Musical America's "unscripted series. It's a light-hearted, informal chat about musical influences, unusual projects, and behind-the-scenes stories.
Now on YouTube, “Chomsky Suite”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXfXy771K8w Chomsky Suite (2011) was composed by Tod Machover for Noam Chomsky and the Kronos Quartet as part of the FAST Festival in celebration of MIT’s 150th anniversary. It was premiered at MIT’s Kresge Auditorium on April 11, 2011 during the Festival’s New Music Marathon, curated by Evan Ziporyn. Machover says of the work: “I …
Machover streaming
Three major pieces by Tod Machover will be streamed internationally over the next week: CHOMSKY SUITE on May 8 at 7PM, A TORONTO SYMPHONY on May 9 at 7PM, and PHILADELPHIA VOICES on May 16 at 8PM (all US EDT).
Schoenberg in Hollywood in Vienna rescheduled
The April 2020 performances of Schoenberg in Hollywood have been cancelled because Vienna is on lockdown and all theaters, museums, and public venues are closed until further notice. However, the great news is that the Vienna Volksoper informed us yesterday that the new production has been rescheduled for the beginning of the 2021/2022 season. We …
Continue reading "Schoenberg in Hollywood in Vienna rescheduled"
25 years ago, predicting the digital revolution
Here's a fascinating article published by American Cinematographer in March, 1995, covering a Media Lab symposium on "Digital Expression." A star-studded panel, including Quincy Jones, Peter Sellars, Peter Gabriel, Jane Alexander, and Laurie Anderson, discussed how interactive digital technology might transform the arts, break down barriers, and transform the relationship between artists and audiences. Many …
Continue reading "25 years ago, predicting the digital revolution"
Notes from Jeju Island, Korea
Tod Machover was visiting Jeju Island, South Korea, last week to participate in the Peace Workshop and Concert, a landmark in music-for-peace activities, and a major step forward for our SYMPHONY FOR THE KOREAS project (a collaboration with Hyung Joon Won and the Lindenbaum Organization).....plus a wonderful opportunity to perform both Flora and Gammified, back-to-back. …
Opera of the Future on NPR Music
New article written by Tod Machover and PhD student Charles Holbrow, posted on the NPR website, commissioned to cap off their series on the future of music streaming. Based on current work at the MIT Media Lab, they wrote about a radically different view of future music, with intrinsic features of the Internet leading to compositions …
Opera of the Future 