Announcements

ICMC 2004 in Miami

The University of Miami School of Music, in conjunction with the International Computer Music Association, has announced that the 2004 International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) will take place 1–6 November 2004 at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, USA. The conference will feature multiple daily concerts of a variety of computer music and multimedia works along with a daily multitracksession technical program of papers, demonstrations, posters, and exhibitions. Pre-conference workshops will be held 31 October.

This year's conference explores the theme of "Expanded Horizons" in its creative and technical examination of the confluence of music and technology. The organizers particularly welcome music and research that address the expanded horizons offered by new musical interfaces, expanded aesthetic and musical embraces, and ways in which our field can grow by bringing its music and technology to new audiences.

The general call for submissions of music, papers, videos, demonstrations, booths, and exhibitions can be found at the conference Web site, www.icmc2004.org.

ICMC 2005 in Barcelona

The 2005 International Computer Music Conference will be held in Barcelona, Spain, during the first half of September 2005, under the theme of "Free Sound." The venue will be the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC) in the new premises at the Barcelona Auditorium. The organizers are Phonos Foundation, Audiovisual Institute (IUA) of the Pompeu Fabra University, and ESMUC; the responsible persons are Xavier Serra (IUA) and Gerard Claret (ESMUC).

Additional information can be found on the Web at www.icmc2005.org/, or from the executive director of Phonos Foundation, Andres Lewin-Richter, at alewin@iua.upf.es. Information about the Barcelona Auditorium is at www.bcn.es/english/turisme/llocs/08.htm.

New Interfaces for Musical Expression—Hamamatsu, Japan

The 2004 International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME 04) will be held 3–5 June 2004 in Hamamatsu, known as Japan's "city of musical instruments." It will be hosted by Shizuoka University of Art and Culture (SUAC) (www.suac.ac.jp/indexe.html).

NIME 04 follows the initial NIME workshop at the Computer-Human Interaction conference (CHI 2001) in Seattle, Washington, USA; the NIME 02 International Conference, held at the Media Lab Europe, in Dublin, Ireland; and the NIME 03 International Conference held in Montreal, Canada.

The main goal at the NIME 04 conference is to blend high-level scientific and technological research on the development of new interfaces for musical expression and high-level artistic performances using such interfaces. The 2004 conference will consist of a three full-day event where research papers, demonstrations, and performances will be presented that relate to the state of the art in new interfaces for musical expression.

The organizers state that "In recent decades computers and related electronic technology have come to play a nearly ubiquitous role in every aspect of music making, including composition, learning, instruction, performance, recording, and distribution. But the computer itself is hardly a musical instrument. Usual means of human-computer interaction are extremely limited in terms of their use of expressive human action, and there is much room for creative research and design work. For this reason, the NIME conference focuses primarily on questions at the interface between technology and human musical expression."

Topics of interest include, but are not restricted to, the following: design reports on novel controllers and interfaces for musical expression; surveys of past work and ideas for future research; reports on live performance and composition using novel controllers; controllers for virtuosi, novices, education, and entertainment; perceptual and cognitive issues in the design of musical controllers; music and motion; music and emotion; visual and physical expression with sonic expressivity; musical mapping algorithms and intelligent controllers; novel controllers for collaborative performance; interface protocols (e.g., MIDI) and alternative controllers; artistic, cultural, and social impact of new performance interfaces; real-time gestural control in musical performance; mapping strategies and their influence on digital musical instrument design; sensor and actuator technologies for musical applications; haptic and force feedback devices for musical control; real-time software tools and interactive systems; pedagogical applications...