MUSIC4D’s recent trip to Los Angeles proved to be a journey through time and a union between the memory of traditional instruments and the frontiers of new technologies.
The activities began on 26 October 2025 in the evocative setting of the Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo. Here, the hands of time intertwined with the future thanks to the use of the Rudolph Wurlitzer organ. Since the early 1900s, this instrument has been a pioneer in blending the ancient “turcherie” of 18th-century keyboards with the first automatic remote control systems. In the concert, we presented a new electronic version of the organ that has regained its original vocation: the instrument acted not only as a solo instrument, but as a real control system capable of interacting with other instruments such as percussion. The event demonstrated how technology can bring tradition back to life, imitating and orchestrating a full range of sounds in a continuous dialogue between past and present.
The experience continued on 29 October at the Liya Art Centre Music Hall in Los Angeles, with an event broadcast live to all MUSIC4D partnership venues. The evening offered a dual journey, both emotional and experimental. First, an orchestra of strings, wind instruments and piano guided the audience through iconic soundtracks set in Southern Italy, featuring pieces from masterpieces such as Il Gattopardo, Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, Il Postino and Baarìa, all enriched with original arrangements and synchronised video projections. The evening also featured a bold experiment in multimedia composition. Using motion tracking software, a camera tracked the movements of the conductor within a virtually tessellated space, with each spatial square corresponding to a different chord structure. While the conductor “drew” the music with his body, the orchestra improvised melodies on the generated harmonic structure. The result was a hybrid composition, capable of blending the technological aspect of sound generation through movement with the traditional substrate of strings.
To round off this rich experience, MUSIC4D visited the prestigious Musicians Institute College of Contemporary Music in Hollywood. Here, they had the pleasure of meeting Professor Patrick Kirst and his students for a joint activity. The session focused on new technologies and their impact on the relationship between sound and image, opening up new perspectives for reflection on the future of composition.
