Georgy Bagdasarov
Orchestras are rather hard to come by. But sometimes, technology can help; at least if your name is Georgy Bagdasarov, who wanted to use the sound of a large ensemble in a really unorthodox way, so he “built” one. The artist, originally from an Armenian family living in Kazakhstan, may be known to Czech audiences as a saxophonist and electronic musician who has collaborated with Jérôme Noetinger and plays with the Prague Improvisation Orchestra; however, he also teaches at FAMU and Berlin's Universität der Kunsten; his interests include film, generative art and cybernetics. It was this combination of skills that enabled him to create a program in Pure Data that allows him to control – or perhaps rather to manipulate – a virtual orchestra with a joystick. This setup provided the basis for his recent Prague performances: enthusiastically received and just as wild as monumental.
