Constella(c)tions

Written and dedicated to Soundinitiative Ensemble, this work was developed through the STARTS Program (Science, Technology and the Arts) of the European Commission, during an artistic research residency at IRCAM, in collaboration with the ISMM (Interaction Son Musique Mouvement) team.

Musical Experience as a Metaphor for Interpersonal Relationships

In Constella(c)tions, the bodies of the performers, enhanced by sensors, serve as a means for the audience to actively participate in the musical creation. The musical score works as a game that organizes form through constraints while also allowing space for collective dynamics of expression and discovery within the sonic environment.

Constella(c)tions is part of a series of interactive musical pieces conceived by composer Michelle Agnes Magalhaes in scientific collaboration with Benjamin Matuszewski and Frédéric Bevilacqua from IRCAM's Interaction Sound Music Movement team. This work is dedicated to the Soundinitiative Ensemble, whose aesthetic contributions have been essential, particularly regarding its performative dimension and relationship with the audience.

The system employs motion sensors and smartphones as instruments, enabling both performers and audience members to produce and modify sounds through their gestures and movements. As a result, the performance space transforms into an interactive musical environment where all participants—whether professional musicians or audience members—actively contribute to the musical interpretation.