Culture Report
America's most patrician orchestra hired a live AI as a sort of section leader. It listened to each player and made connections between them, under the baton of Kent Nagano. Machover called the result a "possible, positive vision" of democracy, which may be the first time anyone has looked for civic hope in an orchestra pit.
When: The run took place Oct 22–24, 2026, with three performances: Thu Oct 22 at 7:30pm, Fri Oct 23 at 1:30pm, and Sat Oct 24 at 8:00pm ET. George Lewis and Tod Machover gave a pre-concert talk, "Positive Vision," on Oct 24 at 6:30pm in the Cabot-Cahners Room.
Where: Symphony Hall, Boston, MA
Official source: https://www.bso.org/events/technology-and-our-humanity, https://www.media.mit.edu/events/tod-machover-s-already-and-not-yet-at-boston-symphony-hall/
Editor’s note: Dates reconciled: the BSO page listed performances on Oct 22, 23 and 24; the MIT Media Lab page's Oct 22 to 25 span also covered Media Lab talks at MIT on Oct 25.
This run has ended. This listing is kept for the record.
Image generated by AI; it does not depict the actual work or venue.
Photo: Antoine Saito, courtesy of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Last modified: October 22, 2026
About the Author: Simone Avant
