The Dresden Sinfoniker orchestra staged a remarkable performance on October 12 and 13 dubbed the “Robot Symphony,” in which the orchestra was led in a historic concert by MAiRA, a three-armed robot conductor. The German orchestra, which is well-known for its avant-garde interpretation of classical music and its willingness to try out novel musical expressions, celebrated its 25th anniversary with this event.
With its three arms, MAiRA led the second portion of the event, demonstrating its capacity to manage intricate rhythms that are difficult for human conductors to master. In this segment, MAiRA carried three colored lightsabers in its arms, one for each of the three musical ensembles. With each section of the orchestra following its own baton, the orchestra was able to produce complex cross-rhythms.
The first part of the concert was traditionally led by human conductor Magnus Loddgard, with sixteen brass players and four percussionists performing pieces by composers like Markus Lehmann-Horn, Konstantia Gourzi, and Wieland Reissmann. After the intermission, the robot took the podium, conducting the world premiere of “#kreuzknoten” by Reissmann, known for its complex overlapping rhythms.
MAiRA’s training involved a close collaboration between the artistic director of Dresden’s Sinfoniker, Markus Rindt, and specialists from the Technical University Dresden’s Centre for Tactile Internet with Human-in-the-Loop. Over two years, Rindt demonstrated arm movements to MAiRA up to 40 times to help it replicate the gestures of a human conductor, making this project a significant example of human-machine collaboration in the arts.
The Dresden Sinfoniker has a history of pushing the envelope in modern music through collaboration with a wide range of artists and performances in unusual settings. Their dedication to investigating the ways in which technology might interact with conventional musical forms is demonstrated by the usage of MAiRA in this concert, further solidifying their position as innovators in the confluence of classical music and contemporary innovation.