New Interfaces for Musical Expression

About NIME 2024

New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME), is an international conference about new musical interfaces, their artistic use and the technologies involved in building them. Researchers from all over the world share their knowledge and late breaking work during the conference. The conference started as a workshop at the CHI conference in 2001 and, since then, has been held annually around the world.

NIME2024 will be held between September 2 and 6, 2024 in Utrecht. The conference will be held physically but with opportunities to follow the conference online as well. This years edition is organised by three institutions: SLT (Sounds Like Touch), Gaudeamus and HKU (University of the Arts Utrecht). The conference is partly ingrained within the Gaudeamus Festival 2024. This festival annually attracts about 3000 (inter)national visitors and hosts a the Gaudeamus Award, an incentive prize for composers under 35. Visitors at the Gaudeamus Festival are known to not only be interested in New Music but also in new ways of making it. There will also be lots of concerts that are interesting for the NIME audience and an Off-NIME program is part of it.

NIME 2024 Theme: "Tactility in a hybrid world"

The recent years within the NIME community have witnessed a growing emphasis on social aspects that link the design of NIMEs to various themes, including education, inclusion, and sustainability. NIME2024's theme, 'tactility in a hybrid world', encapsulates the essence of our focus. On one hand, NIME2024 revisits the enduring theme of tactility, which has been a fundamental aspect of this conference since its inception at the turn of the century. On the other hand, we acknowledge the evolving global landscape. The contexts in which NIMEs operate have expanded significantly, encompassing fields such as education, healthcare, and therapy.

Simultaneously, the traditional stage, which once served as the primary venue for NIMEs, has undergone significant changes. The events of the 2020 pandemic underscored the financial vulnerability of physical venues. Moreover, there is a growing awareness within the NIME community regarding sustainability concerns related to the travel of artists and scientists. Balancing the concept of tactility within NIME and the intimate experiences associated with it becomes a challenge in light of the necessary shift toward maintaining sustainability.

Authors are encouraged to recognize this apparent paradox and contribute research that explores the tactile intimacy inherent in creating music through the physical interfaces that are sought, while bridging the gap with our increasingly distanced world, compelled by the imperative of sustainability.