NCHS graduate fuses robotics with music in orchestra performance

Written by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
Thursday, 21 January 2010 12:23

A New Canaan High School graduate will be directing a global music orchestra that combines musicians with digital recordings at the Scream Festival in Los Angeles next week.

Ajay Kapur, who graduated from NCHS in 1998, will direct the KarmetiK Machine Orchestra, featuring an international lineup of musicians, engineers and digital artists who use custom-built robotic instruments and new and expressive interfaces in live music performance. His one-of-a-kind performance features new compositions melding musical tradition with modern engineering.

Embracing the age of human computer interactivity, Kapur blends classical Indian music theory with a modern electronic and experimental groove. His custom electronics are used to bring melody, harmony, dance and tribal beats into the 21st century.

Kapur is currently the director of Music Technology at the California Institute of the Arts. He is also a Lecturer of Sonic Arts at the New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University of Wellington. He received an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in 2007 from University of Victoria combining computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, music and psychology with a focus on intelligent music and media technology.

Kapur graduated with a Bachelor of science in engineering and computer science from Princeton University in 2002.

The event will take place Wednesday, January 27 at 8:30 p.m. at the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, 631 W Second Street, Los Angeles, Calif. Tickets are $20, or $16 for students. The Scream festival is presented by Redcat and the Southern California Resource for Electro-Acoustic Music.

Call 213-237-2800 or visit redcat.org for more information.

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