IRCAM

The IRCAM, Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique, was founded in the 1970s by Pierre Boulez. This Paris-based institute is one of the most important European institutes for both science about music and sound and avant garde electro-acoustical art music. It is situated next to and organizationally linked with the Centre Pompidou. The extension of the building has been designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1970 president Georges Pompidou asked Boulez to found an institution for the research of music. In 1973 the part underneath Place Igor Stravinsky was finished.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Since its conception, IRCAM has been the birth place for some of the most important concepts for electronic music and audio processing. A very well-known example is the development of the real-time audio processing graphical programming environment called Max/MSP with its successors jMax and Pure data.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Georgina Born wrote her Ph.D. thesis in anthropology about the IRCAM, which was later published under the title Rationalizing Culture: IRCAM, Boulez, and the Institutionalization of the Musical Avant-Garde.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1992 Boulez, who then became honorary director, was succeeded by Laurent Bayle. In 2002 the philosopher Bernard Stiegler became the new head of the institute.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1970s: This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. For an in-depth article on the cultural and social trends of the decade, please see The Seventies...

Pierre Boulez: Pierre Boulez (IPA: /pjɛʁ.buˈlɛz/) (born March 26, 1925) is a conductor and composer of classical music. He was born in Montbrison, France. He initially studied mathematics at Lyon before pursuing music at the Paris Conservatoire under Olivier Messiaen and Andr?e Vaurabourg (Arth...

Paris: Paris is the capital city of France, as well as the capital of the ?le-de-France r?gion, whose territory encompasses Paris and its suburbs. The city of Paris proper is also a d?partement, called Paris d?partement (French: d?partement de Paris). It is a wonderful city for aimless wandering of which f...