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Music Technology and Computation: launching a new multidisciplinary program at MIT

Eran Egozy, Professor of the Practice and Director of the Music Technology Graduate Program at MIT

601 Computer Studies Building

MIT recently launched a new master’s degree program in Music Technology and Computation, an initiative driven by the convergence of several factors: the organic growth of undergraduate interest, an increased focus on multidisciplinary initiatives at MIT, and a close collaboration between the music department and the school of engineering. This effort also included the hiring of three new faculty members specializing in music technology, including Mark Rau (acoustic modeling) and Anna Huang (human-AI co-creation), who have just joined the team. These developments are laying the foundation for a new music technology center at MIT, offering exciting potential for innovative research and education. 

In this talk, Eran will share the story of how this program was established and highlight the diverse research interests of the new faculty. He will also delve into his own research, which explores creating experiences that deepen people’s engagement with music. The presentation will conclude with a live demonstration of Tutti, an interactive experience where the audience becomes an orchestra, using their mobile phones as musical instruments. 

Bio: ERAN EGOZY, Professor of the Practice and Director of the Music Technology Graduate Program at MIT, is an entrepreneur, musician, and technologist. He was the co-founder and chief technical officer of Harmonix Music Systems which developed the video game franchises Guitar Hero and Rock Band, selling over 35 million units worldwide and generating over $2 billion in annual sales. Eran and his business partner Alex Rigopulos were named in Time Magazine’s Time 100, Fortune Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40, and USA Network’s Character Approved awards. 

Eran is also an accomplished clarinetist. Hailed as “sensitive and energetic” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), he has appeared as soloist with the MIT Symphony Orchestra and as guest artist on the radio show From the Top. Eran is the clarinetist for Radius Ensemble (named Boston’s Best Classical Ensemble in 2016 by The Improper Bostonian), and has appeared with Boston area ensembles such as Emmanuel Music and A Far Cry. Prior to starting Harmonix, Eran earned degrees in Electrical Engineering and Music from MIT. His current research and teaching interests include interactive music systems, music information retrieval, and multimodal musical expression and engagement. Recent projects include *12*, an audience-participation work for chamber music were audience members use their mobile to musically interact with the stage musicians, and Tutti, a massively multiplayer mobile-audience performance piece where the entire audience becomes the orchestra. Eran is currently developing ConcertCue, a program-note streaming mobile app for live classical music concerts, which has been featured with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Baroque, and the New World Symphony.