May 1, 2007: The New York Electronic Arts Festival is a month-long series of concerts, panels, workshops, and presentations centered on the cutting edge work being done at the intersection of art and technology. Featuring artists from Trimpin to They Might Be Giants, the festival exhibitions and concerts promise to draw a huge audience with a wide spectrum of music lovers. At the center of the NYEAF is the seventh annual conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME), an international event (previously held at IRCAM in Paris) that brings together the leading musical technologists from around the world. The theme of NIME 2007 is “Music and Robotics”. Robotics is a large and growing field, and one with a wide popular appeal. Most major contemporary technological events feature robots in a very visible way, including this past year’s Wired Nextfest and SIGGRAPH, and fields ranging from sports to gaming to household maintenance have all seen the emergence of robots. NYEAF promises to be an incredible draw, as it will combine people’s fascination with cutting-edge robotic technology with virtuosic musical performance–feats of musical athleticism beyond the capacity of even the most amazing human performer.
Partners: The New York Electronic Arts Festival and NIME 07 are produced by Harvestworks and NYU Music Technology in partnership with:
- New York University Interactive Telecommunications Program
- Columbia University Computer Music Center
- Electronic Music Foundation
- 3LD Art and Technology Center
- Institute for Electronic Arts
- Roulette
Venues: The New York Electronic Arts festival and NIME 07 will be held at a broad array of venues, from university halls to cutting-edge clubs, including: Tonic, Columbia University, New York University, Galapagos Arts Space, Eyebeam, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Swing Space@ 15 Nassau Street, Roulette, and 3LD Art and Technology Center.
Events and Featured Performers include:
Perry Cook: keynote speaker and Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University. Co-founder of the Princeton Laptop Orchestra, a cutting-edge new ensemble comprised entirely of laptop computers and various electronic interfaces, which has received enthusiastic write-ups in the New York Times.
Todd Reynolds: Julliard-trained composer and violinist whose varied career has included everything from membership in the Yo-Yo Ma Silk Road Project and Steve Reich and Musicians to opening for indie-music darlings The Books and debuting new compositions with the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. A legendary performer on the downtown scene.
Luke DuBois: New York-based composer and programmer who was recently profiled in Wired. Inventor of time-lapse phonography, co-author of Jitter, the video extension of Max/MSP. Professor at Columbia University and the NYU Interactive Telecommunications Program.
Morton Subotnick: Legendary computer music pioneer. Innovator of interactive computer music systems. Recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and the American Composers Orchestra’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
LEMUR: LEMUR is a Brooklyn-based group of artists and technologists developing robotic musical instruments. Founded in 2000 by musician and engineer Eric Singer, LEMUR creates exotic, sculptural musical instruments which integrate robotic technology. LEMUR’s philosophy is to build robots that are instruments as opposed to robots that play existing instruments.
They Might Be Giants: American “geek rock” band that has sold over 4 million records. Composed and performed the theme for Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and won a Grammy in 2002.
Trimpin: keynote speaker. Sound Sculptor, composer and inventor, who is one of the most stimulating one-man forces in music today. A specialist in interfacing computers with traditional acoustic instruments, he has developed a myriad of methods for playing, trombones, cymbals, pianos, and so forth with Macintosh computers.
George Lewis: The performance of a new composition for the LEMUR Robotic Orchestra that was commissioned by Harvestworks with funds from the Multi-Arts Production Fund of the Rockefeller Foundation.
Columbia University: workshops and concerts celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Electronic Music Studio.
Robotics Workshop: with Gordon Monahan, Godfried-Willlem Raes of Logos Foundation, Trimpin, Jacques Remus.
Check our website for a full calendar of events, performances, and workshops.
About Harvestworks: Founded in 1977 as a non-profit organization to cultivate artistic talent using electronic technologies, Harvestworks’ mission is to encourage the creation and expand the distribution of digital media artwork.