Two upcoming events in the Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub will see musicians explore the intersections between traditional musical performance and instruments, and the digital age.

In ‘Zimbabwean Mbira and storytelling in the digital age’ (Wednesday 22nd February), actor, composer and Mbira musician John Falsetto will perform an immersive musical experience that looks at how ancient oral storytelling traditions interact at the convergence of AI, education, and public engagement.

 

John is currently a Visiting Fellow of the University of Oxford’s Humanities Cultural Programme for 2022/23, and his practice is concerned with the devising of performances and training that integrates traditional Zimbabwean and Shona Mbira culture for the digital age and audience. He assimilates audience and performance; capturing the spaces and sounds of the event to create a sense of engagement and community with those involved, leading up to a final musical piece where everyone becomes a participant in the outcome. This innovative approach has been a key feature in his workshops with performers and young people, as well as his practical lectures at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) and Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

On Friday 10th March, the Digital Hub will welcome pianist, composer and technologist Zubin Kanga for a recital titled ‘Cyborg Soloist’. Zubin has been at the forefront of curating and creating interdisciplinary musical programmes for over a decade. His unique and immersive work, which has been performed all over the world, seeks to explore and redefine what it means to be a performer, through interactions with new technologies. These technologies include motion sensors, artificial intelligence, live-generated 3D visuals, virtual reality, keyboards as video-game-style controllers, biosensors, and internet-based scores.

 

Zubin will be making full use of the audio-visual capabilities of the Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub to showcase brand new, technology-focussed music that has not yet been heard in Oxford. He’ll be performing on a range of instruments, including digital instruments, synthesizers, and a traditional piano.

Everyone is welcome to attend these immersive musical performances. To find out more about them, and other upcoming events in the Digital Hub, click here.