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Welcome Back!

The Eliette and Herbert von Karajan Institute, in collaboration with Volkswagen AG is hosting its annual Karajan Music Tech Conference in Salzburg on the 15th of March. The conference is invite-only so please express your interest to attend using the button bellow.

Karajan Music Tech is back for 2023. We are hosting our conference in Salzburg on the 15th of March. The conference is invite-only, so please express your interest to attend using the button bellow

View this page to stay updated on the programme and the speakers for this year, and follow us on our socials to stay posted.


* The Karajan Music Tech Conference is free of charge for accredited participants and includes free access to Salz21 at the same time. After registration you will receive your personal voucher and a link to generate your combi ticket (KMTC23 & Salz21)

In collaboration with

Find The Conference

Location
Karajan Music Tech Conference 2023 / SalZ21
Hall No 10
Am Messezentrum 1
5020 Salzburg
Austria

Get Directions ->

Program

10:00
CET
Welcome
Matthias Röder
Eliette and Herbert von Karajan Institute
Katharina Jeschke
IMZ International Music + Media Centre
Lars-Eric Schuldt
Volkswagen AG

Short welcome addresses by our partners Volkswagen AG and IMZ International Media + Music Centre

10:30
CET
A Panorama of the Science Behind Artificial Intelligence
KeyNote
Helmut Bölcskei
ETH Zürich

In this keynote presentation, award-wining mathematician and computer-scientist Helmut Bölcskei from ETH Zürich introduces us to the science underlying Artificial Intelligence. The presentation is aimed as a general audience, no mathematical background necessary.

11:00
CET
From Experimentation to Commercialization: The State of Generative Music AI
KeyNote
Yung Spielburg

Grammy-award winning producer and songwriter Yung Spielburg takes us on a journey of the current music AI landscape. He draws on the recently released report from Water & Music on creative AI, which he co-authored along with 50+ members of their community.

11:30
CET
How Artists are Working With AI:Chasing Waterfalls, An Artificial Intelligence Opera; Beethoven X The AI Project; AI Music Tasting: AI Artists & Projects Across Genres
Panel
Sven Sören Beyer
Phase 7
Walter Werzowa
Beethoven X
Jovanka von Wilsdorf
DIANA AI Song Contest
Seda Röder
Sonophilia Foundation

In this session we are looking at some of exciting artistic projects that have been done using artificial intelligence, including an AI opera, a new Beethoven Symphony and several examples of song writing approaches with AI.

14:00
CET
The Cognitive Turn: How Arts, Artificial Intelligence and Mobility Intersect in Surprising Ways
Panel
Thorsten Bagdonat
Volkswagen AG
Portrait XO
AI Artist
Janet Rafner
Aarhus University

Artificial Neural Networks are revolutionizing the way we create, design and engineer the world around us. As the technology is maturing, the use cases in which it is employed are getting more complex and often mission critical, for instance in the case of autonomous driving. An important role of artificial intelligence is providing awareness of context and anticipation of future events, both in engineering mobility as well as in creating or improvising art and music. This cognitive turn in both engineering and art is the topic of our panel and we will explore similarities and differences in the disciplines from technical, psychological and artistic perspectives. 

14:00
CET
THE AI-MUSIC PLAYGROUND: Music creation with AI
Panel
Jovanka von Wilsdorf
DIANA AI Song Contest

In this hands-on workshop, Jovanka v. Wilsdorf invites you to create music in collaboration with various AI tools, ranging from the simple „press & play generator“ to the professional music composition assistant. No previous experience with AI is needed. Songwriting skills and open minds are welcome.

15:00
CET
The Politics and Business of Creative AI
Panel
Anastassia Lauterbach
ExCo Group
Jan Hiesserich
Palantir
Yung Spielburg

In many jurisditions, machine generated content is not copyrighted. This has profound implications for a future in which humans co-create with machines. How is AI changing the business of music? Will our copyright law need a make-over or are we fine with the exiting models? What will Europe need to do to stay in the game?

16:00
CET
AI & VR Experiences in Gaming, Theater and Performing Arts Film
Panel
Tina Lorenz
State Theater Augsburg
Julian Mohr
For Eyes
Thierry Baujard
SpielFabrique

New technologies such as artificial intelligence, and virtual or extended reality play an increasingly important role in the entertainment sector. As the performing arts are embracing immersive and interactive formats, we are looking at innovative use cases that bridge the bouncaries of gaming, theater and music film. This panel is part of the cooperation with the International Music and Media Center (IMZ).

17:00
CET
Innovating Karajan’s Label – Creative Direction and Technology at Deutsche Grammophon Today
KeyNote
Clemens Trautmann
Deutsche Grammophon

We are looking forward to Clemens' short impulse on Innovation at the Yellow Label, Deutsche Grammophon

17:10
CET
Networks of Music Discovery: From A&R to Algorithms and Beyond
Panel
Sune Hjerrild
Artelize
Paola Cacciatori
Artelize
Jovanka von Wilsdorf
DIANA AI Song Contest
Ian Penman
New Media Law
Clemens Trautmann
Deutsche Grammophon

In this panel we are going to look at the way that discovery of music and musical talent has changed through digital technologies and machine learning in particular. How do experts in the field see the future for the industry and the public?

18:00
CET
Lofi AI: A Hacker’s Perspective on How (Not) To Generate AI Music
KeyNote
Jonas Mayer
TNG Technology Consulting
Thomas Endres
TNG Technology Consulting

This talk gives an insight into AI-supported music production from a naive IT perspective. You will actually learn what Neural networks are and how they can be used to create melodies compose or directly generate wave files. They go Lecturers on the various considerations for use for Generation of Lofi Hip Hop and show how to be chilled Drum grooves and matching melodies are generated and these programmatically synthesized. Jonas Mayer and Thomas Endres share theirs greatest learning experiences of the project and provide an outlook future developments in the field of music AI. Numerous live demos round off the talk.

18:30
CET
Fireside Chat & Concert with PortraitXO
KeyNote
Portrait XO
AI Artist

Portrait XO (she/they) is an independent researcher and artist who creates musical and visual works with traditional and non-traditional methods.  In collaboration with Dadabots, they won ‘Best Experiment’ award at VUT Indie Awards 2021, and Eurovision AI Song Contest Jury Vote for ‘most creative use of AI’ in 2020.  Her development into AI audiovisual art evolved through several artist residencies from NEW NOW FESTIVAL and BBA Gallery in 2021, and Factory Berlin x Sonar+D in 2020.  She researches computational creativity, human-machine collaboration, and explores new formats & applications for forward-thinking art and sound.  She holds a monthly radio residency with her art & activism collective CO:QUO (CO-CREATE STATUS-QUO) on Refuge Worldwide Radio, and a founding member of The IASAS (International Association of Synaesthetes, Artists, and Scientists) and recently launched SOUND OBSESSED - sonic innovation archive celebrating the journey and milestones of new innovation in sound.  Her debut research-based AI audiovisual album 'WIRE' released on December 9th 2022 as a first of its kind NFT to Vinyl release on music NFT polygon  marketplace twelve x twelve.  

She has performed, presented, and exhibited at SXSW, Ars Electronica, MONOM, Reeperbahn Festival, International Music Summit, Amsterdam Dance Event, BBA Gallery, RE:PUBLICA, Sonar+D, Factory Berlin, Tech Open Air, Redbull Music, Future Forum by BMW Welt, KIKK Festival, Github, and more.

Speakers

Meet the speakers at the Karajan Music Tech Conference 2023

Anastassia Lauterbach

Managing Director EMEA
ExCo Group

Anastassia Lauterbach is a technology strategist, a business founder, an international non-executive director, a leadership mentor, and an author focused on artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, leadership development, and corporate governance. Dr. Lauterbach teaches AI, data, cybersecurity, and business ethics at MCI, Innsbruck. She is an expert speaker on AI at CNBC.

Dr. Lauterbach is Non-Executive Independent Director at Aira Technologies (AI in wireless, Silicon Valley), RiskQ (cybersecurity, New York), and Aircision (telecommunication, NL). Dr. Lauterbach is a mentor with the ExCo Group, formerly Merryck & Co. Americas. Dr. Lauterbach advises Salzburg Global Seminar corporate governance and technology & law programs. 

Clemens Trautmann

President
Deutsche Grammophon

Dr. Clemens Trautmann (born 1977 in Braunschweig) has been President and CEO of Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, part of Universal Music Group, since December 2015. He previously held various executive roles at Axel Springer SE, most recently as Chief of Staff to Chairman and CEO Dr. Mathias Döpfner, as well as Managing Director and CFO of its online property portal, Immonet. In these roles he was responsible for a variety of strategic projects focusing, for example, on digital transformation, new business development, corporate acquisitions, innovative management methods and organisational culture. Clemens Trautmann earned his doctorate in law while simultaneously studying music, including at The Juilliard School, New York. As a member of a European working group on intellectual property, he served on the research staff of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law. He has given solo and chamber music performances, for example, at Lincoln Center's ‘Mostly Mozart Festival’ and at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall in the ‘Debut on Deutschlandradio’ series, and has been awarded prizes by the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the German Music Council.

Helmut Bölcskei

ETH Zürich

Helmut Bölcskei is a professor of Mathematical Information Science at ETH Zürich, Switzerland, in the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Mathematics. Since 2021 he has also been associated with the Lagrange Mathematics and Computing Research Center, Paris, France. 

He received his PhD degree at Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria and spent post-doctoral years at Stanford University, CA, USA.

He was in the founding team of Iospan Wireless Inc., a Silicon Valley-based startup company acquired by Intel Corporation in 2002. His research interests are in machine learning theory, applied mathematics, mathematical signal processing, data science, and statistics.

Ian Penman

Founding Partner
New Media Law

Ian Penman is an Entertainment and Media lawyer in Soho, London, who also serves on the boards of several entertainment and technology companies. Ian is one of the founders of New Media Law LLP in Soho, which began in 2001. Prior to that Ian spent 7 years in Intellectual Property at DLA Piper, one of the world’s largest commercial law firms. Ian’s practice spans all elements of the copyright industries, with a particular focus on music, film and technology. Ian co-founded the SAAS business, Synchtank, in 2010. Prior to being a lawyer, Ian had a previous career in music, playing keyboards in rock bands and producing records, before moving into artist management and eventually the law.

Jan Hiesserich

Executive Vice President Strategy & Communications
Palantir

Jan Hiesserich is Head of Strategy Europe at the US software specialist Palantir Technologies. Previously, he was Head of CEO Reputation & Strategic Positioning at SAP SE. As Managing Director of the leading strategy consultancy FGS Global, he accompanied numerous acquisitions and mergers as well as board changes, including in the DAX40, between 2006 and 2019. He is the co-author of the book “From artificial to augmented intelligence – what we can learn from art to create the future with software” (Campus 2023; book available in German only) and author of two further books on CEO reputation (“Der CEO im Fokus”, Campus 2013, “Der CEO-Navigator”, Campus 2011). Following work assignments in the USA, England and Spain, he now works and lives in Frankfurt.

Janet Rafner

Director of Learning
Aarhus University

Janet Rafner is a postdoctoral researcher at Aarhus University, Dept. of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics and the Center for Hybrid Intelligence and affiliated with the Interacting Minds Center and the Center for Aesthetics of AI Images. She holds a PhD in Information Communication Technology (2022) and her current research focuses on citizen science, participatory futures, psychometric creativity assessment, computational co-creativity, and human-AI interaction. She is a Salzburg Global fellow and formerly a US Fulbright Fellow.

Jonas Mayer

TNG Technology Consulting

Jonas Mayer works in the Innovation Hacking Team of TNG Technology Consulting where his main focus lies on creating innovative showcases and prototypes in both soft- and hardware. Since 2018 he's been working on numerous projects ranging from real-time deepfakes, over mixed reality art experiences, a shitposting ai, all the way to autonomous miniature drones.

Prior to joining TNG, Jonas studied Informatics: Games Engineering at TU Munich. Apart from the obvious game projects throughout the course of his studies, he focused mainly on artificial intelligence and high performance computing. 

Jovanka von Wilsdorf

Creative consultant and musician, in love with the future
DIANA AI Song Contest

Jovanka v. Wilsdorf, creative consultant, artist coach and musician, is the Initiator of the DIANA AI Song Contest and the Female* Producer Price, and gives forward-looking impulses to international careers as a public speaker. 

Before signing with BMG as a songwriter and sub-publisher, Jovanka v. Wilsdorf toured Europe with her band QUARKS and released five albums on Sony Music and Monika Enterprise. She has played leading roles at the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus, written advertising copy for brands such as Edeka, Melitta, Adidas and Coca-Cola, and is the author of the book “Gequälte Brötchen,” published by Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf. 

www.jovanka-von-wilsdorf.de

Julian Mohr

Founder
For Eyes

Julian is a media entrepreneur and digital format creator from Hamburg, Germany. 

In 2016, GSA cinema marketer "Weischer Group“ acquired his previous venture NQYER („Enquire") Media, a creative agency to develop influencer marketing and branded entertainment strategies for clients like the UN, Porsche, Unilever and Politicians from the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Throughout his time at the Weischer Group, he pioneered new cinema formats utilizing Esports titles and VR technology. In 2020 he decided to part ways to start a new venture again, which was incorporated in 2021 under the name For Eyes (https://4eyes.media). His current mission there is to bring a new entertainment format at the intersection of music and XR to the world.

Katharina Jeschke

Secretary General
IMZ International Music + Media Centre

As Secretary General of the IMZ International Music + Media Centre, Katharina Jeschke is a curator, developer and host of music film festivals and competitions worldwide. She is also the programme developer of Avant Première Music + Media Market Berlin, the international trade fair for cultural TV and VOD content. She also is the driving force of the IMZ Online Services and Content.Agent, an innovative new global B2B marketplace for film license trading.

Matthias Röder

Managing Director
Eliette and Herbert von Karajan Institute

Dr. Matthias Röder is an award-winning music and technology strategist. Matthias currently serves as a board member of the Karajan Foundation and is the Managing Director of the Eliette and Herbert von Karajan Institute. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the Mozarteum Foundation. In 2017, Matthias founded the Karajan Music Tech Conference, a cross-industry event to promote breakthrough technologies in music, media and audio

Paola Cacciatori

Co-Founder & Chief Data Officer
Artelize

Raised as a bilingual child, Paola was exposed from a very young age to diverse environments and cultures. When she discovered her strong passion for Performing Arts and Nature, she completed her studies in Wildlife Conservation Biology (Master Degree) together with working internationally as a professional Opera Singer for almost 20 years. 

This eclectic background results in her unique perspective on analyzing, interpreting and structuring ‘wild’, fragmented  data environments.

For over 10 years, she successfully brought this approach in building innovative platforms such as Truelinked and modernizing others such as Operabase, starting the technological revolution in classical music.

Today, as Co-Founder and Chief Data Officer at Artelize,  her unique expertise and strong enthusiasm is crucial in the mission of bettering the sector of Performing Arts to make it more structured, more directly available and inspiring worldwide.

Portrait XO

AI Artist

Portrait XO (she/they) is an independent researcher and artist who creates musical and visual works with traditional and non-traditional methods.  In collaboration with Dadabots, they won ‘Best Experiment’ award at VUT Indie Awards 2021, and Eurovision AI Song Contest Jury Vote for ‘most creative use of AI’ in 2020.  Her development into AI audiovisual art evolved through several artist residencies from NEW NOW FESTIVAL and BBA Gallery in 2021, and Factory Berlin x Sonar+D in 2020.  She researches computational creativity, human-machine collaboration, and explores new formats & applications for forward-thinking art and sound.  She holds a monthly radio residency with her art & activism collective CO:QUO (CO-CREATE STATUS-QUO) on Refuge Worldwide Radio, and a founding member of The IASAS (International Association of Synaesthetes, Artists, and Scientists) and recently launched SOUND OBSESSED - sonic innovation archive celebrating the journey and milestones of new innovation in sound.  Her debut research-based AI audiovisual album 'WIRE' released on December 9th 2022 as a first of its kind NFT to Vinyl release on music NFT polygon  marketplace twelve x twelve.  

She has performed, presented, and exhibited at SXSW, Ars Electronica, MONOM, Reeperbahn Festival, International Music Summit, Amsterdam Dance Event, BBA Gallery, RE:PUBLICA, Sonar+D, Factory Berlin, Tech Open Air, Redbull Music, Future Forum by BMW Welt, KIKK Festival, Github, and more.

Seda Röder

Sonophilia Foundation

Seda Röder, aka “the piano hacker”, is an author, entrepreneur and philanthropist devoted to cultivating creativity in society and organisations. She is a sought-after speaker, consultant to DAX listed companies and the founder of the Sonophilia Foundation; a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the scientific research of creativity and critical thinking. Seda is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at The Mindshift, a consultancy on creative technologies and leadership. Furthermore, Seda is a fellow and a member of the Salzburg Global Seminar Corporate Governance Forum, angel investor and network partner at the European startup accelerator Silicon Castles. In 2018 Seda received the Game Changer Award at the Austrian Chamber of Commerce for her business merits. Before relocating to Europe, Seda taught music performance, theory and history at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as an Associate and Affiliated Artist.

Sune Hjerrild

CEO & Co-Founder
Artelize

Former Danish opera singer with an international career and successful serial entrepreneur in "performing arts tech".

Founded the company Truelinked that later acquired Operabase. To this day the most successful casting tool in the world for Opera.

In 2020 he left the company to build an even more ambitious company, Artelize.

Artelize is AI-powered data aggregation creating a one-stop discovery platform for the world of performing arts.

The very experienced team behind Artelize is on a mission, not only to get the audience back, but to build a new connection with a wider, younger, and more diverse audience. In short to empower a new renaissance for the most underserved classical art forms ...as a starting point. 

Artelize launched in the US in August 2022 and their specialized AI aggregation engine (called Loligo) has begun the enormous task of mapping and connecting the entire industry into one single platform. With tremendous speed and accuracy, they will cover both the US and Europe in less than 12 months.

Sven Sören Beyer

Creative Director phase7 performing.arts
Phase 7

Sven Sören Beyer is founder and artistic director of the Berlin based artist collective phase7 performing.arts. In terms of staging, he focuses on combining media and high-tech with dance, language and music. He works as a director and choreographer as well as a media and video artist. In 2020 he started working on the AI opera chasing waterfalls as producer and director of the piece, which premiered in 2022 at Semperoper Dresden and Hong Kong New Vision Arts Festival. Beyers cross-media aesthetics, his fascination for high-end technical developments and his mesmerizing combination of performing arts and media art lead him and phase7 across the globe.

Thierry Baujard

Founder
SpielFabrique

Thierry is co-founder of SpielFabrique and offers a unique expertise in funding strategy for the creative industries. SpielFabrique is European Eco system catalyst with major programmes for the sustainability of European indie games developers. 

He is the director of a group of companies involved in the financing of 4 main sectors: Audiovisual, Gaming, MusicTech and FashionTech including Media Deals which is a pan European investment network of private investors. His past experience include executive roles at Vivendi (London and Los Angeles) and Studio Babelsberg in Berlin. He is a graduate of an MBA at Bocconi (Italy) and UCLA (Los Angeles). 

He has also been involved in various public policy projects in access to funding at European, national and regional levels in many European countries. He is also an active investor in different creative companies.

Thomas Endres

TNG Technology Consulting

In his role as a Partner for TNG Technology Consulting in Munich, Thomas Endres works as an IT consultant. Besides his normal work for the company and the customers he is creating various prototypes - like a telepresence robotics system with which you can see reality through the eyes of a robot, or an Augmented Reality AI that show the world from the perspective of an artist. He is working on various applications in the fields of AR/VR, AI and gesture control, putting them to use e.g. in autonomous or gesture controlled drones. But he is also involved in other Open Source projects written in Java, C# and all kinds of JavaScript languages.

Thomas studied IT at the TU Munich and is passionate about software development and all the other aspects of technology. As an Intel Software Innovator and Black Belt, he is promoting new technologies like AI, AR/VR and robotics around the world. For this he received amongst others a JavaOne Rockstar award.

Thorsten Bagdonat

Volkswagen AG

Dr. Thorsten Bagdonat, Jahrgang 1972, promoviert in theoretischer Astrophysik, danach einige Jahre in einem kleinen Startup für industrielle Bildverarbeitung gearbeitet. Seit 11 Jahren bei Volkswagen in der Konzernforschung („Group Innovation“) tätig im Bereich Fahrzeugumfeldwahrnehmung für autonomes Fahren. Jetzt Teamleitung für „Artificial Intelligence & Data Analytics“. Wir beschäftigen uns mit KI-Algorithmen zur Bildverarbeitung und allgemeinen Sensordatenanalyse z.B. zur Vorhersage von Batterielebensdauer oder des Nutzerverhaltens. Mein Hauptinteresse zielt auf Grundlagen der KI, insbesondere dem Thema „Bionic AI“, also KI, die sich an dem Vorbild der Natur/des Menschen orientiert.

 

Dr. Thorsten Bagdonat, born 1972, made a PhD in theoretical astrophysics. After that, worked in a small startup company for industrial computer vision. Has been working for 11 years at Volkswagen Research (“Group Innovation”) in the field of perception for autonomous driving. Currently heading a team for “Artificial Intelligence & Data Analytics” working on AI-based algorithms for perception and general data analysis, e.g. for predictive maintenance or user behavior analysis. My personal interests focus on basic questions of AI particularly in the field of “Bionic AI” dealing with human-like intelligence and understanding.

Tina Lorenz

State Theater Augsburg

Tina Lorenz came of age in a galactic society of hackers, but went on to study Drama and American Literature in Vienna and Munich. She has worked in the past as lecturer for theatre history at the Bavarian Academy for Performing Arts, as dramaturge at the Landestheater Oberpfalz and as specialist for digital communication at the State Theatre of Nuremberg. She is a founding member of two hackspaces (labs for technology enthusiasts), the metalab Vienna and the Binary Kitchen Regensburg and is part of the jury at the Dortmund Academy for Theatre and Digitality, awarding fellowships to promising artists in the field of performing arts and digital media. Since 2020, she is the Head of Digital Theatre at the State Theatre of Augsburg.

Walter Werzowa

Beethoven X

Walter Werzowa is an inventor of music, composer of number-one hits, music health entrepreneur, and tamer of Artificial Intelligences. A critically acclaimed composer and producer, he has worked on numerous movies by Schwarzenegger, Wenders, and Spielberg. He composed the Intel sound branding as well as that of T-Mobile. Walter has also finished Beethoven’s 10th symphony with the help of an AI. He had artistic collaborations with Robbie Williams and is the composer of the Austrian pop hit “Bring me Edelweiss.” Walter is the founder of HealthTunes, a non-profit that brings the power of music to the healthcare profession. He teaches film composition at Music University Vienna.

Yung Spielburg

Water & Music

Yung Spielburg is a grammy-award winning producer and songwriter most well known for his work with Japanese multi-hyphenate, MIYAVI. He is also a core team member and collaborative research lead of the music and tech research and intelligence network, Water & Music. You might know him as the voice of the theme on The All-In Podcast.

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