THE FUTURE OF MUSIC PERFORMANCE: RESEARCHERS AT MCGILL UNIVERSITY TAKING
INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO DESIGN OF NEW DIGITAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
SAN FRANCISCO, September 5, 2007 --- WIRED Magazine today announced that the McGill Digital Orchestra will
be exhibiting at WIRED NextFest™, a unique world’s-fair-style event to be held at the Los Angeles Convention
Center, September 13–16, 2007. The four-day festival will feature more than 160 exciting interactive exhibits of the
innovative products and technologies that are transforming our world. Over the past three years, more than 100,000
visitors have visited WIRED NextFest in San Francisco (2004), Chicago (2005) and New York (2006).
The McGill Digital Orchestra will provide a glimpse into the future of entertainment by demonstrating unique new
digital musical instruments based on gestural control of sound synthesis. Attendees will be able to interact with these
new instruments to produce "out of this world" sounds based on their gestures. They will also be able to meet some of
the designers of the instruments and to watch videos of expert musicians using them in the performance of electronic
music. To experience the Digital Orchestra, please visit us at the Future of Entertainment pavilion at WIRED
NextFest.
About the Digital Orchestra
The McGill Digital Orchestra is a three-year collaborative, interdisciplinary project bringing together composers,
performers and researchers in music technology. It is funded by a team grant from the Fonds québécois de la recherche
sur la société et la culture (FQRSC). Work on the Digital Orchestra is carried out at the Input Devices and Music
Interaction Laboratory (Marcelo Wanderley, Dir.), and the Digital Composition Studios (Sean Ferguson, Dir.) of the
Schulich School of Music of McGill University in Montreal. Researchers are members of the Centre for
Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT). The Digital Orchestra research project will
culminate in concerts as part of the live@CIRMMT performance series during McGill’s MusiMarch Festival of
contemporary music in Montreal, Canada, from March 3 to 7, 2008.
About WIRED
For nearly 15 years, WIRED Magazine has been the first word on how technology is changing the world around us.
Each month, the magazine delivers a glimpse into the future of business, science, entertainment, education, culture and
politics. Under the leadership of Editor-in-Chief Chris Anderson, WIRED has been nominated for an unprecedented six
consecutive National Magazine Awards for General Excellence, winning the industry’s prestigious top prize in 2007
and 2005. WIRED magazine and Wired.com reach nearly 6 million readers per month.
To learn more about the McGill Digital Orchestra: http://www.music.mcgill.ca/digitalorchestra.
To learn more and to purchase tickets for WIRED NextFest: http://www.wirednextfest.com.
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Media Contacts:
Sean Ferguson
Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media
and Technology (CIRMMT)
Direct: +1 514 398 4552
Email: ferguson@music.mcgill.ca
Alexandra Constantinople
WIRED Media
Direct: +1 415 276 4962
Email: Alexandra_Constantinople@wired.com
www.music.mcgill.ca/digitalorchestra www.music.mcgill.ca/musimarch