The Dallas Opera presents a new production of Tod Machover’s Death and the Powers, February 12-16. This visually spectacular robot pageant by the MIT Media Lab’s Opera of the Future group tells the story of Simon Powers, a powerful businessman and inventor nearing the end of his life, who downloads his consciousness into “The System” in …
Continue reading “Death and the Powers Global Simulcast – Ticket links here”
The current issue of the Juilliard Journal is devoted to “Technology and the Arts,” a bold, good move for this bastion of traditional classical music! The issue includes an interesting interview with Tod Machover. Tod discusses how he first became intrigued by computers when he was studying composition at Juilliard, how he arrived at IRCAM …
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Very interesting interview in Theater Jones with Keith Cerny, the innovative General Director and CEO of The Dallas Opera, about bringing DEATH AND THE POWERS there next month, including the interactive simulcast that will reach 10 other cities. In the interview, Cerny discusses the challenge new operas face in reaching broad audiences. He describes how …
Continue reading “The Dallas Simulcast and the future of opera”
First announcement of Opera of the Future’s new VOCAL VIBRATIONS installation, opening at Le Laboratoire in Paris on March 27, 2014 and coming to Cambridge (Mass.) in fall 2014. Get a glimpse at the Le Laboratoire website; more info soon!
What fun! WQXR (105.9FM in New York City) ran a piece on its blog today on “Top Five Musical Pieces for Toys” that includes Tod Machover’s “Toy Symphony”. The full hour-long program on John Schaefer’s New Sounds can be heard here. Not to be confused with the previous work of the same name, Tod Machover’s Toy …
Just posted on the Perth project blog: Explore the sounds of Perth with CONSTELLATION web app! After a whirlwind trip to Perth in October/November when I immersed myself in the sights and sounds of the city, I am excited to share a unique collaborative activity where you will be able to contribute to the creative process …
Hear “Miranda’s Aria” from DEATH AND THE POWERS in New York! Sara Heaton will be singing the aria as part of BAM’s “21c Liederabend” on Friday, November 22 at 7:30 pm. All kinds of wonderful new music by a host of interesting composers, sure to be beautifully performed and produced. Full info here. Hope to …
Katherine Taylor, superb Boston-based photographer for The New York Times and others, just posted this excellent blog of photos she took a few months ago of Tod Machover’s group at the MIT Media Lab, while shooting for a Times story. View the photos by clicking here.
From Tod Machover’s Facebook page: Am thinking about Michel de Montaigne today, in preparation for a trip to Montréal tomorrow to discuss a project based on Montaigne’s work. Montaigne invented the “essay” in the late 16th century, and his bold, undogmatic and unpretentious writings remain as fresh today as when they were first published. Can’t find …
Catch up on what Tod Machover has been doing in Perth in this article from The Western Australian. He describes some of the unique nature sounds he has been hearing and talks about an ongoing workshop with school children who are using Hyperscore software to transcribe the sounds of their city into music. Although his …
Opera of the Future 