Tod Machover (born November 24, 1953, in Mount Vernon, New York) is an Emmy-award winning composer, inventor of hyperinstruments and hyperscore software, supporter of music AI and participatory opera, and professor at the MIT Media Lab.

In 1980, he was named Director of Musical Research at IRCAM. In 1985, he joined the faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, where he became Professor of Music and Media and Director of the Experimental Media Facility. Today, he is a professor at the MIT Media Lab and leads the Lab's Hyperinstruments/Opera of the Future group. Since 1995, he has co-led the Things That Think (TTT) and Toys of Tomorrow (TOT) groups. In 2006, he was a visiting professor of composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

He has created important musical pieces for Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Matt Haimovitz, the Ying Quartet, the Boston Pops, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Penn & Teller, and others. He also designed interactive systems used by Peter Gabriel and Prince. Machover gave a keynote speech at NIME-02, the second international conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, held in 2002 at the former Media Lab Europe in Dublin, Ireland. He frequently lectures worldwide.

In 2012, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his opera Death and the Powers. In 2013, he received the Arts Advocacy Award from the Kennedy Center's National Committee of the Performing Arts.

Education

He went to the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1971. He earned a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School in New York, where he studied with Elliott Carter and Roger Sessions from 1973 to 1978. He also began his Ph.D. studies at Juilliard before being invited to work as Composer-in-Residence at Pierre Boulez’s new Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in 1978.

History

In the fall of 1978, Tod Machover arrived at IRCAM in Paris and met Giuseppe di Giugno’s digital synthesizer 4 series. In November 1979, a piece called Light was first performed at the Metz Festival using the 4C synthesizer, which was based on di Giugno’s idea that “synthesizers should be made for musicians, not for the people that make them.” (Electric Sound, p. 181). In 1981, Machover created Fusione Fugace, a piece for solo performance on a real-time digital synthesizer called the 4X machine, which was the first prototype of his hyperinstruments. During his time at IRCAM in 1986 and 1987, he worked on compositions for keyboard and percussion duets that focused on creating complex sound layers. His first opera, VALIS, used di Giugno’s 4X system to process voices, which suggested his later concept of the hyperinstrument (a term he introduced in 1986) and his experiments with AI opera in 2023.

At MIT’s Media Lab, Machover developed methods to measure instruments and performers’ expressions in more detailed ways. He worked on improving keyboard instruments, percussion, strings, and even conducting, aiming to create new technology that would expand the abilities of musical instruments and their performers. He advanced research in musical performance and interaction by using new musical and technological tools.

Originally focused on improving skilled performances, Machover’s research later shifted to creating interactive musical instruments for non-professional musicians, children, and the general public. In 1996, he premiered Brain Opera, an interactive music experience using hyperinstruments designed for anyone to play with natural skills, aiming to make every person a musician. He was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his opera Death and Powers (premiered in 2010), an innovative work that combined changing objects and sculptural sounds to explore themes of legacy, human life, and technology. His most recent opera, Schoenberg in Hollywood (premiered in 2018), examines the challenge of balancing art and popularity through the story of Arnold Schoenberg.

Hyperinstruments

Tod Machover created hyperinstruments, which are special tools that change sounds from regular instruments into other sounds based on how the performer moves. In 1986, the MIT Media Lab started the Hyperinstrument project to make musical instruments with technology that help skilled musicians express themselves better. These instruments were made to improve traditional ones like guitars, keyboards, drums, and string instruments. They also help conductors. Famous people like cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, musician Peter Gabriel, and illusionists Penn & Teller have used them.

In 1992, the project started making interactive music systems for people who are not professionals, such as students and music lovers. Systems like "Drum-Boy" and "Joystick Music" let users create music by using simple movements or describing what they want. These systems work in real time with the user's actions.

Later research focused on two areas: improving advanced systems for professionals that can capture small details in performances, and creating fun interactive systems for the public, like music learning tools and online platforms for working together. The main work involves making computer systems with sensors, programs that process sounds, and software to measure and understand human expression and emotions. This research also looks into new ways to create interactive art and entertainment.

The idea of hyperinstruments has also been used to control visual media through movements, as seen in the "Meteorite Museum" installation. Recent projects include new instruments for children and hobbyists, as well as high-end systems that can change large performances, such as those by a full orchestra or in opera.

Hyperscore

A music-making program created by Tod Machover that lets people make music by drawing lines and shapes without needing to know music rules or how to write music.

City Symphony

Tod Machover started a project that allows people to help create a symphony. In 2012, he began the first city symphony called the Toronto Symphony, part of Opera of the Future. This symphony uses sounds collected from the city, and the music is made by the audience and the composer.

In 2017, he started another project called Philadelphia Voices. People were invited to send their recordings online to work with the composer. Tod allowed the public to take part in creating the music, so the sounds heard were from the participants, not the composer. The music reflected the voices of people in Philadelphia.

Opera of the Future

Opera of the Future is a research group at the MIT Media Lab, led by composer Tod Machover. It studies new ideas and tools to improve music composition, performance, learning, and expression. The group combines technology with art to create new musical works and interactive experiences. In 2012, Tod Machover started the "City Symphony" project under Opera of the Future. This project is a symphony where people help collect sounds from the city, and audiences and the composer work together to create the music. Key works include:

• Valis: an opera in two parts (1987) based on Philip K. Dick's novel VALIS
• Brain Opera (1996), an interactive musical experience that included contributions from online participants and live audiences. It toured Europe, Asia, the United States, and South America from 1996 to 1998 and was permanently installed at Vienna's House of Music in 2000. [1]
• Resurrection (1999) at Houston Grand Opera with Joyce DiDonato, based on Leo Tolstoy's last novel. [2]
• Skellig (2008), an opera based on the novel of the same name by David Almond. [3]
• Death and the Powers (2010), an opera with live electronics and robotics developed by the MIT Media Lab. Libretto by Robert Pinsky Powers.
• Schoenberg in Hollywood (2018), commissioned by the Boston Lyric Opera, premiered in Boston and later performed in Vienna. It examines the tension between artistic integrity and mass appeal through the story of composer Arnold Schoenberg.
• Gammified (2019), created for the Kronos Quartet and inspired by MIT neuroscience research on the potential of 40 Hz auditory and visual stimulation to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
• Philadelphia Voices (2018), commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra and premiered at the Kimmel Center and Carnegie Hall.
• Overstory Overture (2023), commissioned by the International Sejong Soloists and premiered at Lincoln Center, featuring mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato.
• FLOW Symphony (2024), premiered by the Sejong Soloists in Seoul, following the success of Overstory Overture.

Critics and Reviews

Critics say that the opera VALIS mixes many different elements to create something new, but the result is not very organized. The music sometimes holds attention, but not always. However, the opera shows a new way of combining live music with computer-generated sounds.

Tod Machover’s Schoenberg in Hollywood is a creative and complex opera that tells the story of the composer’s life in Los Angeles. It combines real events with dream-like or magical scenes and uses multimedia. The performances are strong, and the libretto is clever. However, the opera sometimes has too much drama, sound problems, and an inconsistent mood. Despite these issues, it successfully explores Schoenberg’s artistic and personal experiences in Hollywood.

Journal articles

• Machover, Tod (October 2004). "Shaping Minds Musically" (PDF). BT Technology Journal. 22 (4): 171–179. doi: 10.1023/B:BTTJ.0000047596.75297.ee. S2CID 8717715. Saved as a copy of the original version in PDF format on September 7, 2006.

Awards

• Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters, France (1995)
• DigiGlobe Prize for Interactive Media, Germany (1998)
• Telluride Tech Festival Award of Technology and the Ray Kurzweil Award of Technology in Music, USA (2003)
• Charles Steinmetz Prize awarded by IEEE and Union College, USA (2007)
• Pulitzer Prize in Music Finalist for "Death and the Powers" (2012)
• Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Award for Arts Advocacy (2013)
• Composer of the Year, Musical America (2016)