Conductor 2.0
The field of orchestral conducting is already very competitive, but one robot is throwing a whole new hat into the ring. Honda's humanoid robot, ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility), took the podium with the Detroit Symphony last week to conduct "Impossible Dream". The concert was a part of an effort to draw attention to the Detroit Symphony's education programs - ASIMO also made an appearance at the Symphony's education performances to demonstrate its capabilities for hundreds of area elementary school students. It was also an opportunity to kick off the new 5-year partnership between Honda and the Detroit Symphony called, "The Power of Dreams Music Education Fund".
Honda says ASIMO will one day be a valuable tool for helping the elderly and disabled in their homes. So, while orchestra conducting may not be a regular activity for ASIMO, it was certainly a chance to expand its capabilities and explore its "artistic" side. UPDATE - video now available of the full performance. Check it out below, or visit this link.
Honda says ASIMO will one day be a valuable tool for helping the elderly and disabled in their homes. So, while orchestra conducting may not be a regular activity for ASIMO, it was certainly a chance to expand its capabilities and explore its "artistic" side. UPDATE - video now available of the full performance. Check it out below, or visit this link.
1 Comments:
John Adams: ‘DOCTOR ATOMIC”
Chicago Lyric Opera, World Premiere.
Very non-lyrical “singing” by all cast. Sounds like a Britten opera without any pleasure. Adams' songs sound like English "sprechtstimme." Golijov knows how to write for singers so AINADAMAR will at least be a meaningful musical experience.
There were two orchestral interludes in Act I and a Dvorak-like finale that will surely be edited into a cute symphonic scherzo for concert performance. Remember “the Chairman Dances” from “Nixon in China?”
Otherwise, this piece is definitely prohibitive from a concert performance here in Phoenix. If you ever want to hear a more effective rention of the atomic bomb testing and Hiroshima, listen to John Tenney's "PIKA-DON." Let’s see how the New Yorkers handle it next season at The Met.
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