Calit2 : Calit2 Music Researcher Elected to IEEE Technical Committee

Calit2 Music Researcher Elected to IEEE Technical Committee

San Diego, June 1, 2009 -- UC San Diego music faculty member Shlomo Dubnov has been elected to the IEEE Technical Committee on Computer Generated Music. Dubnov is an active participant in Calit2, which sponsored and hosted the world premiere of his work, Kamza and Bar Kamza , in 2008.

Shlomo Dubnov at Calit2 prepares for the 2008 premiere performance of Kamza and Bar Kamza .

Dubnov's appointment comes with the election of Goffredo Haus as the new chairman of computer music at IEEE. Haus, who heads the Department of Informatics and Communication at the State University of Milan, has announced ambitious plans to heighten the profile of computer music through web-based outreach and recognition of newer specialties such as video gaming and interactive music. (Interactivity is one of Dubnov's primary research interests).

"Among our goals," Dubnov says, "are promotion of generative applications that make music navigable and participatory, paying attention to new media and related industries, and engaging the liberal arts and humanities in the new Technical and Conference Board. I hope that UCSD's Department of Music will become one of the world's leading centers for computer-generated music."

In recent months, Dubnov's research has included the "Kamza and Bar Kamza" project, an exploration of a Talmudic legend through interactive multimedia performance. The interactive, multimedia work's most recent performance took place in January 2009 at The Loft, the experimental performance venue on the UC San Diego campus.

Kamza and Bar Kamza performance at Calit2 UC San Diego

During the 2008 performance of Kamza and Bar Kamza at Calit2, UCSD music faculty members Steven Schick (center left) and Phil Larson (center right) performed short parts of the original Talmudic story, while the audience interacted via laptop computers as well as debate and commentary.

Dubnov graduated from the Jerusalem Music Academy in composition and holds a Ph.D. in Computer-Science from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He served as a researcher at the Institute for Research and Coordination of Acoustics and Music (IRCAM) in Centre Pompidou, Paris and was a faculty member at Ben-Gurion University in Israel.

The results of Dubnov's research are regularly published in scientific journals and feature in several state-of-the-art computer music and multimedia systems, and his musical works have been recorded and performed internationally. He has been involved in a number of cutting-edge art research projects in digital media, such as a recent EU-sponsored “Semantic HiFi” project, the OMax machine improvisation system, and more.

Dubnov's main interests include new ways for interacting, understanding and creativity in digital media, such as machine improvisation, participatory performance systems and computer audition. Currently he is co-editing a book on, "The Structure of Style: Algorithmic Approaches to Understanding Manner and Meaning," to be published by Springer later in 2009.

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Media Contacts

Dirk Sutro, UCSD Department of Music, publicity@music.ucsd.edu

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Calit2 Music Researcher Elected to IEEE Technical Committee