IRCAM launches new working groups for artistic research
In a context where technological innovation is largely driven at scale by industry and is often treated as an end in itself, IRCAM distinguishes itself by finding in it a means of exploring new expressive possibilities. Under the impetus of the composer and mathematician Carmine-Emanuele Cella, artistic research at IRCAM is gaining new momentum and asserting its distinctive character: the ability to recontextualize technologies, repurpose them, and transform them into tools for thought and creation that contribute to new artistic forms.
Artistic research at IRCAM is being restructured around the following three major cross-cutting questions.
Why humans? — Questioning the place of humans in relation to computational tools, AI, and emerging forms of co-creativity.
Why instruments? — Examining transformations in instrumentality, augmented instruments, and hybrid practices.
Why concerts? — Rethinking formats for performing, disseminating, and sharing the musical experience.
Three hybrid research groups dedicated to these questions bring together composers, scientists, performers, developers, computer scientists, and institutional partners in an interdisciplinary approach. They form the core of IRCAM’s new artistic research framework.
Musica Ex Machina: Computational Creativity and AI
The Musica Ex Machina group explores transformations in musical creation in the age of artificial intelligence. Its work focuses on multimodal generation, composition assistance, structural models based on deep learning, and the new aesthetics emerging from these practices.
Team
Max Ardito (composer, musicologist), Alfredo Baione, Georgina Born (anthropologist, musicologist, University College London), Guillaume Doras (IRCAM, Sound Analysis and Synthesis team), Luke Dzwonczyk (University of California, Berkeley), Aaron Einbond (composer), Daniele Ghisi (composer), Pierre Guillot (IRCAM, developer), HANATSUmiroir (musical ensemble), Agustín Issidoro (composer), Carlo Laurenzi (RIM), Curtis Rumrill (composer, University of California, Berkeley), Marco Stroppa (composer)...
Orchestra of the Future: Augmented Instruments and New Gestures
The Orchestra of the Future group explores transformations in instrumental and orchestral performance through technologies that augment gesture, sound, and space. Its research includes hybrid instruments, gesture capture, distributed systems, and new forms of composition for augmented ensembles.
Team
Per Bloland (composer), Henri Boutin (Sorbonne University–IRCAM, Sound Systems and Signals team: audio/acoustics), Pierre Carré (RIM), Richard Causton (composer), Matteo Cesari (musician), Alois Cerbu, Simone Conforti (RIMCe), Emmanuel Flety (IRCAM, Engineering and Prototyping department), Maija Hynninen (composer), Katalin Koltai (musician), Orlane Mammar (IRCAM, Sound Systems and Signals team: audio/acoustics), Hèctor Parra (composer), François Papirer (Percussions de Strasbourg), Lucia Peralta (L’Itinéraire ensemble)...
Musica Hic et Nunc: New Forms of Concert
The Musica Hic et Nunc group reconsiders the very concept of the concert, focusing on new forms such as XR, spatialization, and interactivity.
Team
Franck Bedrossian (composer), Claudio Bettinelli (percussionist), Frédéric Bevilacqua (IRCAM, Sound–Music–Movement Interaction team), Florent Caron Darras (composer), José-Miguel Fernandez (composer/RIM), Jean-Louis Giavitto (CNRS–IRCAM, Musical Representations team), Jean-Luc Hervé (composer), Myrtille Hetzel (Ensemble L’Itinéraire), Simon Kanzler (composer), Serge Lemouton (RIM), Giovanni Montiani (composer), Augustin Muller (RIM), Miller Puckette (IRCAM, Innovation and Research Resources department), Sébastien Roux (composer), Diemo Schwarz (IRCAM, Sound–Music–Movement Interaction team), Claudia Jane Scroccaro (RIMCe)...
Other initiatives complementing this framework include regular meetings with academic partners, workshops with guest ensembles, and thematic calls for projects. Together, these help develop IRCAM as a place where knowledge and practice intersect and artistic research is built collectively.
https://www.ircam.fr/fr/magazine/redonner-a-la-musique-son-role-exprimental-et-prospectif