‘Cyborg Pianist’ Zubin Kanga returns to Gaudeamus, performing four works that extend the piano, and his body, with cutting-edge technologies. Massimiliano Vizzini’s Fantasie Im(prompt)u, explores the changing role of AI in the artistic process, as well as a new experimental optical scanner, the Keyscanner, turning the piano into a hybrid audio-visual controller. Alex Paxton injects manic energy into Car-Pig, using sampler keyboards to layer dozens of sounds, from choirs, to bagpipes to animal noises. Zubin Kanga’s Steel on Bone uses MiMU sensor gloves to shape visceral sounds from inside the piano. And Laura Bowler’s SHOW(ti)ME explores the contrast between musicians’ public personas and their private anxieties, in an interdisciplinary work combining the speaking pianist with sensors and live audio-visual interaction.

Car-Pig by Alex Paxton and SHOW(ti)ME by Laura Bowler were both commissioned by Zubin Kanga as part of Cyborg Soloists, supported by a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship and Royal Holloway, University of London. Steel on Bone was also developed as part of Cyborg Soloists. Fantasie Im(prompt)u by Massimiliano Vizzini was co-commissioned by Gaudeamus Festival and Zubin Kanga, with the support of Gaudeamus Festival.

PROGRAMME
Massimiliano Vizzini - Fantasie Im(prompt)u (World Premiere)
Alex Paxton - Car-Pig
Zubin Kanga - Steel on Bone
Laura Bowler - SHOW(ti)ME

PERFORMER
Zubin Kanga – piano, keyboards, sensor gloves, live electronics and live video

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