Announcements

ICMC 2008

The International Computer Music Conference will be held in Belfast, Ireland, 24–29 August 2008. Entitled "Roots/Routes," the conference will focus on the interface between technologies developed in the context of international collaboration and those of music cultures rooted in a specific place. Themes include bio-music, emotion-aware interaction, free software culture, networked and geographically displaced performance, and the audience as partner. Trevor Wishart, currently Composer in Residence at Durham University in England, will be the keynote speaker for the event. The conference will also take advantage of its Belfast location to explore the synergies between computer music and Irish traditional music. The conference is to be hosted by the Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music and the Sonic Arts Research Center at Queens University.

Web: www.icmc2008.net

ISMIR 2008

The Ninth International Conference on Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR 2008) will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 14–18 September 2008. The conference provides a forum for practical and theoretical work on accessing, analyzing, and managing a growing body of music and music-related data. Researchers and developers, educators and librarians, students and professional users present work on automatic classification, music recommendation and playlist generation, score following and alignment, music summarization, Web mining, compression and streaming, modification and transformation of musical data, emotion, aesthetics, perception, and cognition, as well as social, legal, ethical, and business issues.

The 2008 conference will introduce several changes to the format of previous years, particularly in that the emphasis will be on interdisciplinary research. Also, a selection of works will be presented orally, but all accepted papers will be presented at poster sessions to promote more discussion, and a late-breaking or preliminary results demo session will be facilitated by the acceptance of abstracts targeting this special session.

Web: ismir2008.ismir.net

Auditory Display in Paris

The 14th International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD) will take place at Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris 24–27 June 2008. This year's conference will address concepts, methods, and tools of sound production involved in the process of "designing sounds" in an interactive context. Taking advantage of the IRCAM venue, the relationship between research in auditory perception, computer music, and sound design will be highlighted. A series of special sessions for the event include (1) Sounds of objects: perception, production, and use in auditory displays; (2) Sound design tools and technologies; (3) Auditory warnings: toward a new design and a better understanding; (4) Aesthetics of sound objects; (5) Interacting with sound in VR or AR; (6) 3D audio display; (7) Audio gaming; and (8) Browsing with sound.

Web: icad08.ircam.fr

Australasian Computer Music 2008

The annual Australasian Computer Music Conference will take place 24–27 July 2008 at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in Australia. The theme for the conference is "sound:space," to focus on issues including diffusion in electroacoustic music performance ("live space"), music and the Internet ("virtual space"), and surround sound in recording, composition, and performance ("acoustic space"). The conference will include papers, posters, workshops, compositions, installations, and performances which explore these various aspects of space. Invited keynote speakers are Roger Dean, an Australian sound and media artist, and Montréal-based composer Robert Normandeau.

Web: www.acmc08.org

World Music Days in Lithuania

The Lithuanian section of the International Society for Contemporary Music will hold the ISCM World Music Days/18th Gaida Festival 24 October–7 November 2008 in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. The theme, "InBetween—Contemporary music as transit zone and middle ground," reflects the organizers' recognition that contemporary music experiences are no longer confined to the concert hall alone, and that a broader base of people tune in through other means such as iPods and Internet radio. The festival is reaching out to new audiences through multimedia, crossover programs, installations, fringe programs and interactive Web-based content. Featured musicians for the event are Peter Eötvös as composer conductor, and Jonathan Harvey, who will present a world premiere work.

Web: www.iscm.org

Music Perception and Cognition in Sapporo

The 10th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition (ICMPC 10) will be held in Sapporo, Japan, 25–29...