Which film robot is the favorite of Death and the Powers composer Tod Machover? What came first in the creation of the opera - the technology or the concept? And where does baritone James Maddalena, who sings the role of Simon Powers, go when he disappears from the stage? How would Tod characterize his music? …
Variety magazine features Hyperinstruments
Variety, the venerable entertainment trade mag (Variety is in/famous for coining zippy industry lingo), has a story today about composer Tod Machover's hyperinstruments. In Smart instruments: Musician's tools play along with you, reporter David S. Cohen writes: "Ever since the invention of electric amplification, there's been tension in the music world -- a perpetual stare-down …
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50 years of music and technology at M.I.T.
Yesterday's event, Music|Machines: Celebrating 50 Years of Music & Technology @ MIT, was a great success. The all-day program of talks, discussions and evening concert featured some giants of the past half-century of music and technology and attracted an overflow crowd to the M.I.T. Media Lab. The day-time talks were webcast live. Videos of those …
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Q&A with Tod Machover – “What are you working on now?”
Here are the final questions from New Vilna Review Editor Daniel Levenson's recent interview with composer Tod Machover: NVR: Can you give us a little glimpse of what you might be working on right now? TM: Whenever I finish a project as large and involving as Death and the Powers (which took me about 10 …
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Tod Machover on NPR’s Morning Edition
Tod Machover was interviewed today on NPR's Morning Edition. Tod speaks with host Bob Oakes about Music|Machines, an all-day event that will be held tomorrow (February 5, 2011) at the M.I.T. Media Laboratory. The event features lectures and discussions by such electronic music pioneers and thinkers as Max Mathews, Barry Vercoe, Marvin Minsky, Joe Paradiso, …
Q&A with Tod Machover – “What’s your role at the MIT Media Lab and beyond?”
Here is question 5 from New Vilna Review Editor Daniel Levenson's recent interview with composer Tod Machover: NVR: You are currently the Head of the Media Lab's Hyperinstruments/Opera of the Future group – can you tell us a little about how you became involved with the Media Lab and what role you see the Hyperinstruments/Opera …
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Tod Machover remembers Milton Babbitt (1916-2011)
By Tod Machover I know Milton Babbitt hadn't been feeling well, but he was one of those people you think will never die. Unlike Elliott Carter, who always seemed much younger than he was, Babbitt always seemed older...deep voice, wrinkled, small and intense, ancient in middle age. I got to know Milton well over the …
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Q&A with Tod Machover – “How have your collaborations influenced you?”
Here is question 4 from New Vilna Review Editor Daniel Levenson's recent interview with composer Tod Machover: NVR: Throughout your career you have had the opportunity to collaborate with an incredibly diverse range of artists, thinkers, writers and entrepreneurs – can you tell us a little about how these collaborative efforts have influenced the ways …
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Q&A with Tod Machover – “What inspires you to make music accessible and interactive?”
Here is question 3 from New Vilna Review Editor Daniel Levenson's recent interview with composer Tod Machover: NVR: It seems as though a large part of the work you do involves an educational element – what is it that inspires you to not only want to create this music, theater and art, but to put …
MIT 150th Anniversary Festival of Art, Science and Technology
Tod Machover emailed us this morning to announce that M.I.T.'s Festival of Art, Science and Technology (FAST) is kicking off next week. The three-month festival s part of the Institute's 150th anniversary celebration and "will highlight MIT's legacy of creative experimentation in fields such as music technology, interactive media and architectural installation, and will …
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Opera of the Future 