Goldsmiths joins line-up at Moogfest, the world's most prestigious music tech festival

Goldsmiths, University of London has been confirmed as a Future Thought program partner at Moogfest 2017, one of the world's most prestigious festivals of music, art and technology.

Held in Durham, North Carolina from May 18-21, Moogfest brings together the individuals and institutions at the cutting edge of contemporary music, to explore new technologies and networks that will shape how music will be made and experienced in the future.

The other participating educational partners are Virginia Tech ICAT, Duke University, UNC, NCSU Libraries, MIT Media Lab, Berklee College of Music, MIT Open Doc Lab, Georgia Tech, and Johns Hopkins. Goldsmiths is the first UK Higher Education Institution to be invited to participate as a partner.

Creative computing director Dr. Michael Grierson, computing lecturer Dr. Rebecca Fiebrink, and Tom Richards, the PhD student who completed synthesiser pioneer Daphne Oram's unfinished 1960s Oramics Machine will all participate in the Moog workshop programme.

Their involvement reflects the increasing international profile of Goldsmiths staff and students’ use of new hardware and software to promote creativity in musical composition and performance, breaking down boundaries and widening access to the process of making music.

Dr. Michael Grierson said:

“Goldsmiths is now recognised as a place where the most original minds can master new techniques and technologies for making music. Participating in Moogfest means we can collaborate with the sharpest musicians and music tech pioneers in world, generate new alliances for Goldsmiths, and bring home new ideas that will help our students invent great work.”

Artists performing and presenting at Moogfest 2017 event will include Flying Lotus, Animal Collective, Talib Kweli, Suzanne Ciani, Mykki Blanco, Derrick May, Gotye, Omar Souleyman, Syrinx, 808 State, Jessy Lanza, Simian Mobile Disco, Visible Cloaks, Moor Mother, Syrinx, Princess Nokia, Zola Jesus, SURVIVE, Function, and Peanut Butter Wolf.

In 2016 the Future Sound (music) leading artists were Grimes, Gary Numan, GZA and Laurie Anderson. The keynote speakers were Dr. Martine Rothblatt and Jaron Lanier (pioneer and originator of the term 'Virtual Reality'). The keynote speakers for Moogfest 2017 will be Dr. Kate Shaw of the ATLAS research project at CERN and Joe Davis of MIT.

Moogfest honors the creative spirit of sonic pioneer Robert Moog (1934-2005) who developed his first commercial analog synthesiser with American composer Herbert Deutsch in 1964. Since 2004, Moogfest has brought together artists, futurist thinkers, inventors, entrepreneurs, designers, engineers, scientists and musicians. By day, Moogfest is a platform for conversation and experimentation.

By night, Moogfest presents cutting-edge music in venues throughout the city. This mind-expanding conference attracts creative and technology enthusiasts for three days of participatory programming in Durham, North Carolina. Performing artists include early pioneers in electronic music, alongside pop and avant-garde experimentalists of today.