Do Machines Make Music?
Gresham College Lecture Series
Wednesday 20 January 2027 • 6pm
Book TicketsJerwood Hall, LSO St Luke’s
Professor Milton Mermikides speaker
Tickets
Tickets free, advance booking necessary.
Visit gresham.ac.uk to register
Seats are allocated on a first come first serve basis. Doors open 30 minutes before the lecture begins, so we recommend arriving early. Any unclaimed seats will be given away to attendees without tickets 10 minutes before the lecture begins. Guest reserved seating is given away 5 minutes before the lecture begins. A ticket does not guarantee a seat, so we recommend arriving early.
From ninth-century Arabic musical automata to the vast, electricity-driven synthesizer of 1896, the idea of machines making music is far older than we might imagine. Digital technologies continue this trajectory in astonishing ways, giving millions the musical powers unimaginable a century ago, and creating a strange ‘arts race’ between human and machine.
But can a machine truly understand music, or only simulate it? As we increasingly integrate technology into our creative lives – and even our bodies – this lecture asks where our musical selves end and that of our machine collaborators begin.
Watch online or attend in person.
Your Visit and Access
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