ICST Events

Our events aim to forge links at various levels between research work and artistic projects at the Institute and to present these within contexts that are of particular interest to us. The events provide a crucial interface between the Institute and the public: on one hand, they give us the opportunity to field-test our developments, and on the other, the composers’, scientists’ and sound artists’ projects presented by and at the ICST broaden our outlook beyond our own areas of work and research. The events organized by the ICST provide a platform for exchanging ideas and give our work a public profile. 
Communication: Micha Seidenberg and Hannah Mehler

  • The ICST Air Showcase is a concert platform for ICST Artists in Residence. The Air Showcase provides selected participants the opportunity to present their artistic work developed during their stay at the ICST.
    Artistic Director: Micha Seidenberg

    Keyvisual Air-Showcase

  • On two Tuesday evenings per semester, the ICST invites attendees to the acousmatic listening session in the composition studio. The ascolta concerts feature acousmatic pieces from the archive. The ICST composition studio is equipped with three independent monitoring systems: a 3D arrangement of 17 speakers (5+8+4) for ambisonics and multichannel, a 5.1 system, and stereo monitoring.
    Artistic Director: Johannes Schütt

    Keyvisual ascolta

  • The concert series Generator is a platform and laboratory for electro-acoustic music and new media and takes place every three months. It offers musicians, sound and medie artists a venue at which to perform and exchange ideas.
    Artistic Director: Micha Seidenberg

    Keyvisual Generator

  • The series ICST Artist Talk offers a platform for the presentation and discussion of works and aesthetic concepts of contemporary music—electro-acoustic music in particular—past and present. The talks, whereby compositions are presented, listened to and subsequently discussed, feature guest speakers and last around ninety minutes. The series also provides a platform for discussing politico-cultural, philosophical and aesthetic issues relating to contemporary music. The ICST Artist Talks are aimed as much at lay listeners as at music specialists.

    Keyvisual ICST Artist Talk

  • What happens when loudspeakers are moved? What creative possibilities are offered? Students explore this in the semester course "Composing with and for Moving Loudspeakers". The usually unnoticed sound transducer becomes a visible sound object with instrumental character through movement. One of the challenges of this unusual project, which is presented to the public as a workshop presentation, is to find an appropriate staging for the optical and tonal components.
    Direction: Peter Färber

    Keyvisual Sound in Motion

  • The computer program PolytempoNetwork enables music that is simultaneously synchronous and asynchronous by providing the musicians of an ensemble with the beat, ensuring that they remain precisely coordinated even in highly complex tempo polyphonies. This type of music is being explored at the ICST as part of an artistic-scientific research project. Regularly, composers, including those invited as part of the ICST residency program, are commissioned to write music intended to be performed with the PolytempoNetwork computer program. The results are presented annually in this concert series.
    Artistic Director: Philippe Kocher