What is the ISMIR 2024 Virtual Pre-Conference?
For the first time, the ISMIR Conference will feature a Virtual Pre-Conference in the leadup to the main conference. This year, the Pre-Conference will take place on October 28-30 (hosted from California and India time zones) and will feature a collection of live online events, including the following:
- Invited keynotes from Eduardo Miranda (University of Plymouth, UK) and Emilia Gómez (European Commission's Joint Research Centre, Spain)
- Informational sessions on ISMIR 2024 and how to navigate the conference
- Presentations from community organizers including the ISMIR Board, WiMIR Mentoring Program, TISMIR, ISMIR Open Review Group, ISMIR 2024 DEI Chair, New-to-ISMIR Paper Mentoring Program, and ISMIR Ethics Working Group
- Opportunities to come together to discuss topics in the field and socialize
Who can attend? This event is open to all registered attendees of the main conference (whether attending the main conference online or in person). It’s not too late to register! https://ismir2024.ismir.net/registration
How do I join? Registered conference attendees will be added to the conference Slack in the coming week, and all Zoom links will be shared via Slack. The detailed program will be posted soon on MiniConf.
Note: Please review session start times carefully, as many time zones (e.g., in Europe) will have already undergone the Fall time zone change, while the US will still be in Daylight Saving Time.
Questions? Email ismir2024-virtual@ismir.net.
Monday, October 28 – AM session, California time
9:00am - 10:00am PDT: Navigating the Conference 1
Are you new to the ISMIR community and/or conference? Join us to learn more about the field, what’s planned for ISMIR 2024, and how to navigate the conference whether attending in person or online.
Presenter: Nick Gang ISMIR 2024 – Newcomer Initiatives Chair
Global start times: 12:00pm EDT, 1:00pm BRT, 4:00pm GMT/UK, 5:00pm CET, 9:30pm IST, 1:00am JST (next day)
10:00am - 11:00am PDT: Virtual Keynote – Eduardo Miranda
The Advent of Quantum Computer Music
Quantum computing technology is developing at a fast pace. The impact of quantum computing on the music industry is inevitable. The emerging field of Quantum Computer Music investigates and develops applications and methods to process music using quantum computing technology. This talk will discuss examples of approaches to leverage quantum computing to learn, process and generate music. The methods discussed range from rendering music using data from physical quantum mechanical systems and quantum mechanical simulations to computational quantum algorithms to generate music, including quantum AI. The ambition to develop techniques to encode audio quantumly for making sound synthesisers and audio signal processing systems is also discussed.
Eduardo Reck Miranda is a classically trained composer and computer scientist. He has composed for renowned ensembles such as the BBC Concert Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and London Sinfonietta. He is a Professor of Computer Music at the University of Plymouth, UK, and works with Moth, a quantum technology company building the next era of music, gaming and the arts. Prof Miranda published over 100 research papers in learned journals and 16 books. He is world-renowned for his groundbreaking work in AI and music. He is a pioneer of quantum computing with a focus on creativity and music composition. His latest book, Quantum Computer Music, comprising a collection of chapters by leading practitioners in the field, was published in 2022 by Springer Nature.
Global start times: 1:00pm EDT, 2:00pm BRT, 5:00pm GMT/UK, 6:00pm CET, 10:30pm IST, 2:00am JST (next day)
11:00am - 1:00pm PDT: Social Event (TBD)
Get to know or reconnect with your MIR colleagues in this online social event! More details coming soon.
Global start times: 2:00pm EDT, 3:00pm BRT, 6:00pm GMT/UK, 7:00pm CET, 11:30pm IST, 3:00am JST (next day)
Tuesday, October 29 – AM session, India time
9:30am - 10:30am IST: Navigating the Conference 2
Are you new to the ISMIR community and/or conference? Join us to learn more about the field, what’s planned for ISMIR 2024, and how to navigate the conference whether attending in person or online.
Presenter: Nick Gang ISMIR 2024 – Newcomer Initiatives Chair
Global start times: 9:00pm PDT (previous day), 12:00am EDT, 1:00am BRT, 4:00am GMT/UK, 5:00am CET, 1:00pm JST
10:30am - 11:00am IST: Special Session – ISMIR Board
In this informational + Q&A session, members of the ISMIR Board will present about the MIR community, current Board initiatives, and how to get involved.
Presenters: Emmanouil Benetos, Carlos Cancino-Chacón, and Ajay Srinivasamurthy – ISMIR Board members
Global start times: 10:00pm PDT (previous day), 1:00am EDT, 2:00am BRT, 5:00am GMT/UK, 6:00am CET, 2:00pm JST
11:00am - 11:30am IST: Special Session – WiMIR Mentoring Program
In this informational + Q&A session, organizers of the WiMIR Mentoring Program will give an overview of the program, provide updates on the upcoming round of signups, and answer questions from the audience.
Presenters: Yun-Ning Amy Hung and Zafar Rafii – WiMIR Mentoring Program Organizing Team members
Global start times: 10:30pm PDT (previous day), 1:30am EDT, 2:30am BRT, 5:30am GMT/UK, 6:30am CET, 2:30pm JST
11:30am - 1:30pm IST: Social Event (TBD)
Get to know or reconnect with your MIR colleagues in this online social event! More details coming soon.
Global start times: 11:00pm PDT (previous day), 2:00am EDT, 3:00am BRT, 6:00am GMT/UK, 7:00am CET, 3:00pm JST
Tuesday, October 29 – AM session, California time
11:00am - 1:00pm PDT: Unconference
Join us for informal, small-group discussions on topics decided by you and your fellow attendees! More information coming soon.
Host: Geoffroy Peeters, ISMIR 2024 Unconference Chair
Global start times: 2:00pm EDT, 3:00pm BRT, 6:00pm GMT/UK, 7:00pm CET, 11:30pm IST, 3:00am JST (next day)
1:00pm - 1:30pm PDT: Special Session – TISMIR
In this informational + Q&A session, members of the TISMIR Editorial Board will give an overview of the journal, recent related initiatives, and how to get involved with TISMIR as an author or reviewer.
Presenter: Meinard Müller – representing the TISMIR Editors in Chief
Global start times: 4:00pm EDT, 5:00pm BRT, 8:00pm GMT/UK, 9:00pm CET, 1:30am IST (next day), 5:00am JST (next day)
1:30pm - 2:00pm PDT: Special Session – ISMIR Open Review Working Group
In this informational + Q&A session, members from the ISMIR Open Review Working Group will give an overview of the group, summarize the first pilot of Open Review that took place as part of the ISMIR 2024 scientific program, and discuss potential future directions for this initiative.
Presenters: Magdalena Fuentes, Blair Kaneshiro, Oriol Nieto, and Geoffroy Peeters – ISMIR Open Review Working Group members
Global start times: 4:30pm EDT, 5:30pm BRT, 8:30pm GMT/UK, 9:30pm CET, 2:00am IST (next day), 5:30am JST (next day)
2:00pm - 2:45pm PDT: Special Session – DEI and “Growing the I”
In this informational + Q&A session, the DEI chair of ISMIR 2024 will present on the various initiatives aimed toward making this year’s conference inclusive and accessible, as well as the evolution of WiMIR (Women in Music Information Retrieval) to WIMIR (Widening Inclusion in Music Information Retrieval).
Presenter: Katherine Kinnaird, ISMIR 2024 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Chair
Global start times: 5:00pm EDT, 6:00pm BRT, 9:00pm GMT/UK, 10:00pm CET, 2:30am IST (next day), 6:00am JST (next day)
Wednesday, October 30 – AM session, India time
11:30am - 1:30pm IST: Ideation Sessions
Join us for informal, small-group discussions with community experts on various MIR-related research topics! More information coming soon.
Host: Vinoo Alluri, ISMIR 2024 Virtual Chair
1:30pm - 2:30pm IST: Virtual Keynote – Emilia Gómez
The MIR field: From Knowledge to Data-driven, from Features to Ethical and Regulatory Considerations
This talk focuses on audio-based music information retrieval (MIR) and reflects on the origins of the field, the different MIR eras, and the recent developments. I will first focus on the paradigm shift from knowledge-driven to data-driven algorithmic design, thanks to recent developments in machine learning. After that, I will discuss the current challenges that the MIR field addresses and the current and future research challenges, notably on the social and ethical impact of MIR algorithmic systems.
Dr. Emilia Gómez (MSc. Telecommunication Engineering, PhD in Computer Science, Full professor accreditation) is a senior scientist at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, where she leads the Human Behaviour and Machine Intelligence (HUMAINT) team that provides scientific support to EU AI policies as part of the European Centre for Algorithmic Transparency, notably the AI Act and the Digital Services Act. She is also a guest professor in Music Technology at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain
Dr Gómez has a long academic experience in the field of Music Information Retrieval, where she has contributed to different approaches for music content description, notably in pitch-content description. Starting from the music domain, she now studies the impact of AI in human behaviour, notably how AI affects jobs, decisions, fundamental rights and children. She was the first female president of ISMIR, is currently a member of the OECD One AI expert group, an ELLIS (European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent systems) fellow, and her work has been recognized by means of citations and honors, e.g. EUWomen4Future, Red Cross Award to Humanitarian Technologies or ICREA Academia.
Global start times: 1:00am PDT, 4:00am EDT, 5:00am BRT, 8:00am GMT/UK, 9:00am CET, 5:00pm JST
2:30pm - 3:00pm IST: Special Session – New-to-ISMIR Paper Mentoring Program
In this informational + Q&A session, organizers from the New-to-ISMIR Paper Mentoring Program will present on this initiative aimed toward supporting new authors (in general, or to MIR) in obtaining feedback on paper submissions from others in the field prior to undergoing the peer-review process.
Presenter: Ajay Srinivasamurthy, New-to-ISMIR Paper Mentoring Program organizer
Global start times: 2:00am PDT, 5:00am EDT, 6:00am BRT, 9:00am GMT/UK, 10:00am CET, 6:00pm JST
3:00pm - 3:30pm IST: Special Session – ISMIR Ethics Working Group
In this informational + Q&A session, organizers from the ISMIR Ethics Working Group will present on the aims of the group as well as progress the group has made on various topics over the past year.
Presenters: Pedro Sarmento, Fabio Morreale – ISMIR Ethics Working Group organizers
Global start times: 2:30am PDT, 5:30am EDT, 6:30am BRT, 9:30am GMT/UK, 10:30am CET, 6:30pm JST