Conference: Co-Creativity in Music, Sound, and AI: Improvisation, Interaction, Composition
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Co-Creativity in Music, Sound, and AI: Improvisation, Interaction, Composition June 5–6, 2026 UC Riverside & Culver Center of the Arts Riverside, California All conference events are free and open to the public. Artificial intelligence is transforming how we compose, perform, listen to, and think about music and sound. From real-time improvisation systems to generative audiovisual environments, creative agency is increasingly shared between human and computational actors. Co-Creativity in Music, Sound, and AI: Improvisation, Interaction, Composition explores these transformations, with a special focus on Somax2, IRCAM’s AI-driven improvisation system, and other machine-learning–based tools for music and audiovisual art. The conference brings together scholars, composers, performers, technologists, and media artists to reflect on co-creativity as a relational, hybrid process distributed across humans, machines, and environments. The event is also the flagship public project of the EARS InterArts Lab at the Culver Center, connecting research, teaching, and public-facing artistic production. It is supported by a 2025–26 Conference Award from the UCR Center for Ideas and Society, which recognizes the project’s interdisciplinary approach and its contribution to advancing dialogue on music, sound, and artificial intelligence across the humanities and the arts. Conference location: UC Riverside Main Campus • INTS 1113 Artistic program location: UCR ARTS • Culver Center of the Arts Program Highlights Friday, June 5 CONFERENCE INTS 1113 – UC Riverside – 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. KEYNOTE: 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.: N. Katherine Hayles, Distinguished Research Professor, UCLA · James B. Duke Professor Emerita, Duke University "Co-creating with AI: Stimulating Human Creativity or Stifling It?"Paper sessions on AI, music, sound, and creative technologiesSESSION 1: Posthuman Voice9:30–10:00 AM: Jörg Holzmann "Posthuman Vocality and the Infrastructural Reconfiguration of Opera"10:00–10:30 AM: Paolo Paradiso "From Vocal Body to Vocal Network: AI and the Reconfiguration of Musical Co-Creativity"10:30–11:00 AM: Darren Woodland Jr. "Material Synthesis Composition: Speculocultural Technopoiesis"SESSION 2: AI Systems and Practice11:30–12:00 PM: Garrison Gerard "Ecosystemic Music: Building Systems for Improvisation"12:00–12:30 PM: Yifeng Yvonne Yuan "Glitch Voice: Real-Time Neural Deconstruction of Vocal Meaning"12:30–1:00 PM: Jeremy Francoeur "No Truth, No Lies: Narrative Storytelling Through Memes and AI"SESSION 3: Cultural & Economic Implications2:00–2:30 PM: Sonnet Swire "Prompt and Consequence: AI-Generated Music as 21st-Century Propaganda"2:30–3:00 PM: Alvaro E. Lopez "Navigating the Convergence of AI and Music Composition: Labor and Attribution"CONCERTS Evening – Culver Center of the Arts – 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. Free public concerts featuring IRCAM Somax2 and guest artists' works7:00–8:00 PM: Concert 1 — EARS Engineers · Eric Lyon · Ka Hei Cheng / Angel Poveda Yánez → Details8:00–9:20 PM: Concert 2 — IRCAM / REACH Collective → Details Saturday, June 6 CONFERENCE Morning – INTS 1113, UC Riverside – 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. KEYNOTE: 9:30–11:00 AM: Eric Lyon, School of Performing Arts, Virginia Tech "How to Compose AI Music That Isn't Mid"PANEL DISCUSSION: 11:30–1:00 PM: "AI and Musical Creativity"Panelists & Organizers: Kathryn Agnes Huether, Postdoctoral Research Associate, UCLA; Mesmi, Artist, Producer, and Consultant; Frank Duchêne, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Belgium; Amy Skjerseth & Liz Przybylski (Organizers), UC Riverside CONCERTS Afternoon – Culver Center of the Arts – 2:30 - 7:00 p.m. Free public audiovisual screening featuring selected AI-based worksHands-on IRCAM workshop on Somax2 and co-creative AI systems2:30–4:00 PM: Workshop 1 — Embodied Calligraphy · Ka Hei Cheng and UCR dancers → Details 3:00–4:00 PM: Screening — Audiovisual Works · curated by Nikolay Maslov → Details4:30–7:00 PM: Workshop 2 — Somax2 · IRCAM REACH Collective and Jeff Albert → DetailsEvening – Culver Center of the Arts – 8 - 9 p.m. Free public concert featuring IRCAM Somax2, guest artists, and UCR student works8:00–9:20 PM: Concert 3 — Constantin Basica · Cecilia Suhr · Jeff Albert & Anthony Cammarota · Somax2 Collective Improvisation → Details Topics Include AI and musical creativityImprovisation and machine learningHuman–AI interaction and embodimentSound, image, and audiovisual systemsComposition, performance, and live codingEthics and aesthetics of AI in the arts Sunday, June 7 Workshop 3: Embodied Calligraphy: 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM Reserve Free Tickets Featured Public Events All concerts, screenings, keynote lectures, and conference sessions are free and open to the public. The conference welcomes students, researchers, artists, and the broader Riverside community. Selected audiovisual works will also be presented through an online exhibition hosted at audiovisualmusic.ucr.edu. Admission No tickets required. Seating available on a first-come, first-served basis. Venues INTS 1113 – UC Riverside Campus Culver Center of the Arts – Downtown Riverside