NPR's classical music reviewer Tom Huizenga featured Tod Machover's concerto for hyperpiano, "Jeux Deux" on the February 12th broadcast of Weekend Edition. Listen to the podcast to hear what Huizenga had to say, and catch a snippet from the recording. "Jeux Deux" is now available on Tod's new CD "...but not simpler...", at Bridge Records. …
Kids collaborate across 8,700 km to compose music
We had the opportunity last week to witness a new piece of music take shape at the M.I.T. Media Lab. Instead of flowing from the pen of a lone latter-day Mozart, this composition emerged on a computer screen from the collective efforts of two classrooms engaging in a composing charrette via a Skype connection. A …
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Review: Machover CD an “absolutely stunning experience”
by Phil Muse for Atlanta Audio Video Club, reproduced here with permission “…but not simpler,” music of Tod Machover The iO String quartet; Michael Chertock, hyperpiano Paul Mann, Odense Symphony Orchestra Bridge Records I know I’m getting along in years when I start encountering composers that I’m old enough to beat up. In the case …
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Tod Machover to create symphony with city of Toronto
From Tod's Facebook - "Next "unusual" project: I've invited the whole city of Toronto to join me to compose an orchestra piece, on commission from the Toronto Symphony. I'll be curating their New Creations festival next season, and this will be a centerpiece. Premiere in March 2013; more info soon. The project was announced today …
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Terry Riley and Gamelan Galak Tika @MIT
Tod Machover posted on his Facebook page: "Composing legend Terry Riley finished a week-long residency at MIT by giving a concert on Thursday evening in collaboration with MIT's gamelan ensemble. A wacky, wonderful California-infused twist on minimalism, with repeated figures (often in the left hand), delirious and quirky melodies, and soulful jabs from clarinet, processed …
Tod Machover at TEDxMunich (video)
This talk occurred earlier this year and just showed up on YouTube. It provides an excellent overview of the work by Tod Machover's Hyperinstruments and Opera of the Future groups at the MIT Media Lab. Speaking from the Media Lab to the Munich audience via a video conferencing system, Tod and his students demonstrate the …
All about the CD “…but not simpler…”
"Machover’s controlled venturesomeness in terms of rhythm, tempo, and dynamics makes the music so scintillating that “Fireworks” would have been a likelier title for this work..." - Phil Muse This is your one-stop-shop for performing organizations interested in Tod Machover's music on the CD "...but not simpler..." (Bridge Records 2011). This collection of Tod Machover's music …
Tod Machover’s UC Santa Barbara series
This Thursday, December 8, Tod Machover will launch a four-lecture seminar series at the University of California Santa Barbara, where he is Distinguished Fellow at the SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind. Full details of the talks are now available here. Here's the schedule: Dec 8, 2011. Hyperinstruments: From Yo-Yo Ma to Guitar …
Blast from the past – Brain Opera
You never know what you'll stumble across on the Internet. This week's buried treasure come to light is this video clip from a presentation Tod Machover gave in 1996 at Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria. Visitors to the famous electronic arts festival had an opportunity to explore the interactive installation and take in a live …
Superb review of Death and the Powers
Kudos to Jen Gunnels of The New York Review of Science Fiction for her outstanding article about Death and the Powers. This is a comprehensive review that discusses, with knowledge and insight, every aspect of the production, from the libretto, music and performances, to the art direction, stage technology, lighting and sound. Reading it made us want …
