What will future orchestras sound like if contemporary composers place the kinds of demands on instrument makers that their 18th- and 19th-century predecessors did? How would the world of the classical musician change if improvisation were a required part of conservatory training? Can interactive technology allow actors, dancers, and musicians to cross the traditional boundaries separating their art forms? The Internet has dramatically changed the way we gather and disseminate information; is it also changing the way we make and perceive art?

Members of the Electric Ensemble @ Juilliard (from left) Michelle Satirs, Nadia Sirota, Lisa Liu, and Clarice Jensen. Photo by Inbal Sivan

These are the kinds of questions Juilliard students and faculty regularly explore in music technology classes. Unlike electronic music labs of the 1960s and '70s, the aim of Juilliard's Music Technology Center is not to advocate a specific style of composition or aesthetic viewpoint. It is, instead, to provide students with the technical knowledge and creative opportunity to explore, without fear or inhibition, their individual musical voices.

In the few short years since its inception in 1995, the M.T.C. has become a launching pad for students interested in alternative or non-traditional careers in the performing arts. Our alumni include interdisciplinary performance artists; composers of music for film; record producers; jazz and crossover artists; creators of electronic and multimedia works; and, of course, composers of concert music.

Juilliard is, first and foremost, a conservatory. By definition, therefore, our mission is to conserve. But conservation is not high on the list of priorities for artists working in a medium that is barely 50 years old. Indeed, in the world of electronic and interactive art, it is the mavericks, explorers, and pioneers who have been awarded badges of honor. The Juilliard Music Technology Center might be regarded the most "un-Juilliard" of all of the many departments and programs. Nevertheless, our sense of passion and commitment is no less than that of our more experienced colleagues on the Lincoln Center campus.

Three years ago, the Music Technology Center produced Beyond the Machine, the first festival of electronic and interactive music at Juilliard. Beyond the Machine events are remarkable not only because they feature new technology, but also because they regularly include students, faculty, alumni, and guest artists performing on the same program.

Beyond the Machine Rose Bldg./Clark Theater Thursday-Sunday, April 3-5, 8 p.m. Free, no tickets required.

This year, Beyond the Machine will truly be a special event, for it will feature the debut performance of the Electric Ensemble @ Juilliard. The Electric Ensemble is a collection of artists from all three divisions working together in the creation and performance of electronic, interactive, and multimedia works fusing technology with live performance. It is the first ensemble at Juilliard to include musicians, actors, and dancers. "What excites me personally," says violist Nadia Sirota, a third-year student who is a member of the Electric Ensemble, "is the fact that, where electronic music is concerned, the boundaries between 'serious' and 'popular' music begin to disintegrate. We are all new to this genre. The fact that this kind of high-level creative work can fuse with the high-level musicianship found at Juilliard is really phenomenal."

One of the works to be performed by the Electric Ensemble is a quartet for electric strings (still untitled) by Mark Wood. A Juilliard alumnus, Wood has pursued careers both as a performer of electronic, rock, and fusion and as maker of electric string instruments. Members of the Electric Ensemble will be playing on instruments built exclusively for them by Wood.

Another work on the program features choreography by Elisabeth Motley, one of the founding members of the Electric Ensemble. Motley has created a remarkable setting of the Chaconne from the Partita in D Minor for violin solo by J.S. Bach. The production is based on research by Dr. Helga Thoene that suggests the Chaconne may be a series of elaborate variations on the famous chorale Christ lag in Todesbanden. The Chaconne was written shortly after the death of Bach's first wife and Thoene believes it is a kind of eulogy to her.

One of the exciting results of Motley's work is that the traditional barriers dividing the role of the dancer and musician have been removed. Dancers activate touch-sensitive tiles on the floor of the stage that, in turn, trigger sound files of singers performing the chorale. Likewise, Juilliard alumna Airi Yoshioka performs the Chaconne while moving about the stage with the dancers.

Among the special guests appearing on this year's concerts are Juilliard faculty member Mark Gould with music technology alumnus Brian McWhorter. Together they will perform two selections from the new CD of electric jazz featuring Gould on trumpet and produced by McWhorter. This CD marks an exciting and courageous new musical direction for Gould, who is largely known for his work as a classical artist and member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

Another highlight of this year's Beyond the Machine festival will be a performance of solos and duets by M.T.C. teacher and mentor, Mari Kimura, and cellist Frances Uitti. Both artists are known internationally for their brilliant work with electronic and interactive technology. Kimura has been one of the most inspirational forces behind the M.T.C. and has been teacher and mentor to many of our students. This April marks the first time Uitti will perform at Juilliard. She is one of the most important new music personalities on the European scene and is also a professor of music at the Oberlin Conservatory. We are very excited and honored that she has made time in her busy schedule to appear on our program.

There are many more artists and students who will be featured on Beyond the Machine, including composers Milica Paranosic, Avner Dorman, and Ryan Streber, and choreographers Andrea Miller and Luke Wiley. Further program details will be announced in March.

Edward Bilous is the founding director of the Music Technology Center and chair of the Literature and Materials Department.