Published

22-6-2026

Type of Work

Presentation (Seminar, forum, etc)

Project Affiliation

enuntiatio.praefatio.formulae residency of .abeceda Institute for research in art, critical thought, and philosophy, Slovenia

Abstract

For over two centuries, the practice of conducting has been founded on a relatively stable relationship: a score is written, a conductor interprets it, and an ensemble/orchestra/choir realises it in performance. More recently, contemporary music has undergone profound transformations through algorithms, sensors, live electronics, machine learning, interactive systems, and generative technologies, expanding many instrumental practices and opening composition to become interactive, immersive and multimodal. However, the practice of conducting has remained largely tied to inherited models of interpretation and musical coordination via gesture.

This presentation asks how technology might expand conducting beyond traditional techniques and scoring materialities and become a catalyst for new forms of ensemble interaction and musical aesthetics. Rather than treating technology as an external tool, this presentation draws on postphenomenology to explore how technological systems actively reshape embodied perception, action, and musical agency from a conductor’s perspective. Building on this, the presentation introduces a framework of performance techniques for expanding conducting practice, offering new ways of understanding the relationships between gesture, sound, technology, and ensemble interaction.

Through a series of performance case studies, the presentation demonstrates these techniques in practice and reflects on each through the lens of postphenomenology, examining how technological mediation reshapes conducting, listening, and musical agency. Therefore this research and presentation explores what the 21st-century conductor might look, sound, and feel like, and how expanded conducting practices can generate new possibilities for contemporary ensemble performance and musical expression.

Citation

Clarke, M. (2026) Expanding the Practice of Conducting through Technologies for New Musical Aesthetics. Presentation at the enuntiatio. praefatio.formulae session for Bled Contemporary Music Festival, June 22nd 2026. Slovenia.

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