Public presentation by SPLICE Faculty Per Bloland
Thursday June 25, 2026
5:00pm EDT
Multimedia Room, Western Michigan University
Livestream simulcast on SPLICE YouTube (unique link)
Join us for a talk by SPLICE Faculty Per Bloland
The Orchestra of the Future hybrid research group at Ircam
For the past several years I have been involved with a number of interrelated projects at IRCAM involving research on augmented instruments. That’s a very broad term, and can encompass almost any electronic treatment of an acoustic instrument, or pretty much any electronic instrument. My specific focus is on “actuated instruments,” which generally describes the addition of some kind of audio transducer to an acoustic (often orchestral) instrument. This allows one to electronically alter the physical characteristics of that instrument, changing timbre, resonance, sustain, etc. The instrument remains an acoustic one - there are generally no loudspeakers involved. But the audio transducer is placed such that it interferes directly with the vibrating body of the instrument, which might be a soundboard, string, or air column. The resulting sounds veer distinctly from the familiar emanations of a flute (for example).
My interest in this field stems from my work with the [ElectroMagnetically-Prepared Piano](, which is an electromagnetic actuation system that can be fitted with any grand piano. I co-invented this device back in 2006 with two other researchers from CCRMA - Steven Backer and Ed Berdahl. I’ve done two research residencies at Ircam involving it, which, it turns out, meshes extremely well with several of their existing streams of research.
I’ll talk a bit about those residencies and the ongoing work. Mostly I’ll describe a new project, called Orchestra of the Future. This is a team of researches assembled by Carmine Cella, the Artistic Director of Ircam, to look at how the institute’s focus should adapt to the changing needs of the field, specifically regarding instrument development. We’re looking at the piano device, an actuated guitar, and an actuated flute. We’re also looking at using Active Control in each of these systems, which can deliver some crazy sounds!
About Per:
Per Bloland is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music whose works have been praised by the New York Times as “lush, caustic,” and “irresistible.” His compositions range from intimate solo pieces to works for large orchestra, and incorporate video, dance, and custom-built electronics. He has received awards and recognition from organizations including IRCAM, ICMA, SEAMUS/ASCAP, the Ohio Arts Council, Digital Art Awards of Tokyo, ISCM, the Martirano Competition, and SCI/ASCAP. His first opera, Pedr Solis, commissioned and premiered by Guerilla Opera in 2015, received rave reviews from the Boston Globe and the Boston Classical Review. He has received commissions from ensembles and performers including Hinge Quartet, Unheard-of//Ensemble, loadbang, Guerilla Opera, Ecce Ensemble, the Callithumpian Consort, Stanford’s CCRMA, SEAMUS/ASCAP, Dana Jessen, Keith Kirchoff, and Stephen Marotto, among others. His first portrait CD, Chamber Industrial, was performed by Ecce Ensemble and is available on Tzadik. His second, Shadows of the Electric Moon, is available on New Focus Records.
Bloland is the co-creator of the Electromagnetically-Prepared Piano, about which he has given numerous lecture/demonstrations and published a paper. He has participated in two research residencies at IRCAM, both focused on this device. His second residency marked the launch of the CAPSICUM project, a joint venture across multiple institutions, including IRCAM, Mines Paris – PSL, and Cambridge University. He is currently a member of the IRCAM hybrid research group "Orchestra of the Future." He is a co-developer of the MaxOrch software package. Available as both a Max patch and a standalone application, MaxOrch is a widely adopted user interface for the Orchidea Max objects, designed for computer-assisted orchestration. He often performs on the lap steel feedback banjo, an instrument of his invention. On this instrument he makes up half of Chainsaw Fugue, an audio-visual noise improv duo based in Cincinnati.
Bloland is an Associate Professor and head of the Composition and Music Technology areas at Miami University, Ohio. He is also a founding board member and composition faculty at the SPLICE Institute. He was previously a Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he served as the founding director of the Oberlin Improvisation and Newmusic Collective (OINC). He is also a founding composition faculty member at the SPLICE Institute. He received his D.M.A. in composition from Stanford University and his M.M. from the University of Texas at Austin.
Scores may be purchased at www.babelscores.com/perbloland For more information visit: www.perbloland.com