Intelligent Instruments in Harper's Magazine
New World Symphonies: An Article on the Guthman Musical Instrument Competition
Thu Feb 20 2025
Thu Feb 20 2025
Nicola Privato presented his Thales instrument at the 2023 Guthman Musical Instrument Composition. An article has just come out in Harper’s Magazine that describes the event beautifully. Here is a quote:
Along with the sousaphone and the steel drum, the saxophone is one of only a few acoustic instruments invented over the past two centuries to have enjoyed any sort of broad popularity, at least in Western music. (The sax, importantly, still lacks an official role in the standard symphony orchestra.) Subsequent innovations, of course, have largely been of the electronic variety. Chief among them have been the electric guitar and the synthesizer, innovations that, whatever their monumental impact, are nevertheless what are known as “augmented” instruments—technical modifications of recognizable, traditional predecessors
This year, Federico Visi is presenting his Sophtar instrument at the competition and we look forward to see streamed musical performances.
Article image.
The Intelligent Instruments project (INTENT) is funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 101001848).