Music and Technological Disobedience

Talk by Simon Hutchinson, Chair of the Department of Music, Theater, & Dance at the University of New Haven

Thursday, April 25th, 2024

4:30pm

VCAM Screening Room

Haverford College

What role should technology play in music of the 21st-century? From the use of drums to organs to laptops, technology has shaped how humans create music. Even J.S. Bach was an avid fan of music-technology, spending hours of his childhood in organ workshops, and supporting the exploration of experimental musical instruments (such as the fortepiano) throughout his career. Technology, though, begs thoughtfulness about its implementation. Social media leverages our desire for validation and connection in order to keep our attention for advertisements. AI is currently being used to replace human creative work through impressive computer-generated images, music, and text. These technologies themselves are not inherently bad, but critical thinking (and perhaps some transgressive art) is required to help us understand how technology can serve humanistic and expressive values. 

Simon Hutchinson is a composer and interdisciplinary artist who uses technology as both a creative medium and a thematic focus. His work emphasizes the human dimensions of technology, challenging contemporary technoculture and advocating for a thoughtful approach to our digital age. He is currently the Chair of the Department of Music, Theater, & Dance at the University of New Haven.

Contact: mlee4 [at] haverford.edu

Organized by Mei-ling Lee, Assistant Professor of Music.

Sponsored by the Department of Music, CRAFT, and the Hurford Center for the Arts and Humanities' Sonic Worlds series: http://hav.to/sonicworlds