Dresden Symphony Orchestra to Perform Concert Conducted by a Robot

The robot conductor, which has three arms to deal with cross-rhythms, will lead the orchestra in the premieres of two new works

Robotics specialists from the Centre for Tactile Internet (CeTI) at the Technical University of Dresden have developed a three-armed robot that is capable of conducting an orchestra. Named MAiRA Pro S, the robot will conduct the Dresden Symphony Orchestra in two new works at the orchestra's 25th anniversary concert.

The performance is the result of a collaboration between the orchestra's conductor Markus Rindt and Frank Peters, group leader for robotics at CeTI.

MAiRA Pro S has been specifically designed to conduct the new work #kreuzknoten by Wieland Reismann, because its three arms can be programmed to lead cross-rhythms that are independently speeding up and slowing down. Such rhythms would be impossible for a human conductor to lead accurately.

A further new work on the program, Semiconductor's Masterpiece by Andreas Gundlach, also explores cross-rhythms, dividing the orchestra into three groups that play in three different meters and tempi.

The concert is designed to ask questions about the nature of creativity and the way in which technological developments might challenge or disrupt current artistic practices.

"How do artists, how do we deal with new technologies that are capable of fundamentally changing our society?" Rindt said. "Where could opportunities lie alongside known risks? Could a new, very unique musical expression emerge as a result of the collaboration between humans and machines? Where are the interpretation and charisma?"

"The cooperation between humans and robots has always spurred our research," said CeTI spokesman Frank Fitzek. "Our vision is an active collaboration in which robots support humans and human skills are transferred to robotics."

Founded in 1999 by Rindt and the composer Sven Helbig, the Dresden Symphony Orchestra plays only contemporary music, and is made up of independent and freelance players. The orchestra's projects often focus on social justice: in 2013, they played a Symphony for Palestine project with Arab musicians in the West Bank, and in 2017 they played a program protesting Donald Trump's proposed wall at the US-Mexico border.