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Find out what's been happening in the Music department.

Professor delivers keynote at landmark conference on AI in Music and the Digital Humanities

Professor Ricardo Climent recently delivered the keynote address at a major conference at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, highlighting innovative and transformative uses of AI in Music, video gaming and geolocation technology, and their legal, ethical, and economic implications. The event, gathering leading researchers from across the Digital Humanities, also featured a Japanese immersive sci-fi opera, alongside Professor Climent's own composition and interactive installation 'AI Beatboxer'.

On Friday, 7 March 7 2025 Professor Ricardo Climent delivered a compelling keynote speech at 'Creative Dynamics II: AI & Digital Innovations for Voice and Vocal Music', a one-day conference hosted by the Edinburgh Futures Institute.

The event, supported by the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities brought together leading experts to explore cutting-edge advancements in AI-driven composition, voice synthesis, and the evolving legal, ethical, and economic landscape of AI-generated music.

His talk explored 30 years of practice-led research, from dataset sonification for composition to disruptive technologies shaping the University of Manchester's NOVARS Research Centre – including geolocative tech, game engines, and AI in music –culminating in works like his concert piece and interactive installation AI Beatboxer (Noh Virtual).

Another highlight of the conference was the UK première of AI Opera Yūrei (Ghost) – an immersive Japanese sci-fi opera that captivated a packed audience of 200 attendees. Designed, produced, and directed by Dr. Alexandra Huang-Kokina, postdoctoral scholar in Intermediality & Digital Humanities at the University of Edinburgh and Lund University, the opera showcased AI’s potential in reshaping vocal performance and storytelling.

This landmark event underscored the transformative role of artificial intelligence in vocal music, setting the stage for further innovation in the field.