A delegation from the “Alessandro Scarlatti” Conservatory of Palermo travelled to Hong Kong to take centre stage at the 34th SIBMAS Conference (23–27 June 2024), Asia’s foremost forum for the performing arts and one of the world’s most influential gatherings of theatre and music-research professionals.
Professor Raffaele Longo, Professor Michelangelo Galeati, Scientific Coordinator Professor Fabio Crescente and Administrative Director Dr Raimondo Cipolla used this high-profile setting to introduce the international community to MUSIC4D—an ambitious initiative that intertwines artificial intelligence, robotics and the metaverse to re-imagine musical performance. Endorsed by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) and ranked first nationwide within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) scheme for Higher Artistic and Musical Education (AFAM) in both quality and budget, the project is dedicated to valorising the artistic heritage of southern Italy.
Before an audience representing more than two hundred institutions, the Palermo team outlined the project’s objectives, methodological framework and expected impact. MUSIC4D unites all the conservatoires of Sicily, Calabria and Sardinia, together with the Universities of Palermo and Calabria, forging an entirely southern consortium whose research agenda places cutting-edge technology in dialogue with centuries-old musical traditions. The presentation culminated in a live demonstration featuring the humanoid NAO robot improvising alongside a jazz quartet from the Palermo Conservatory. NAO’s ability to recognise musical cues and respond expressively drew sustained applause and warm commendations from the President of SIBMAS, German theatre scholar Dr Nic Leonhardt, who emphasised the experiment’s potential to redefine the performer–audience relationship.
MUSIC4D also received an enthusiastic welcome at a special session hosted by the Italian Cultural Institute in Hong Kong, attended by Director Dr Anna Fratarcangeli and Consul Carmelo Ficarra. Both officials underscored the project’s cultural-diplomacy dimension and its relevance to current geopolitical dialogues, extending an invitation to stage a dedicated event during next year’s Festa della Repubblica celebrations on 2 June 2025. Such recognition testifies to the initiative’s resonance beyond academic and artistic circles, positioning it as a vehicle for Italian soft power in the Indo-Pacific region.
The mission concluded at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts—the second-largest conservatoire in China after Beijing—where representatives of the Conservatorio “Alessandro Scarlatti” and Academy Director Dr Iñaki Sandoval signed a memorandum of understanding that paves the way for joint research residencies, student exchanges and co-curated performances. Dr Sandoval has already scheduled a reciprocal visit to Palermo for the coming autumn, signalling an eagerness to translate the agreement into concrete collaboration without delay.
The delegation’s tour secured strategic partnerships, international visibility and new opportunities for knowledge exchange, all of which will feed directly into the forthcoming phases of MUSIC4D’s work programme. More broadly, the success of this Asian mission demonstrates the capacity of the southern Italian AFAM system to lead innovation ecosystems in which artificial intelligence and robotics are not mere tools but active, creative interlocutors. The momentum gathered in Hong Kong thus marks a decisive step towards a new artistic paradigm—one in which technology augments, rather than eclipses, human musical expression and cultural identity.
