LoLa, Music without borders is a trio
For the first time, the musicians of a Jazz Trio played simultaneously together from three different locations - Trieste, Vienna and Tallinn - thanks to LoLa 2.0 technology and research networks connection
Three soloists, three different cities: one music and one Jazz Trio. It’s the innovation we attended on Friday 6 November, during the annual Congress of the European Association of Conservatoires (AEC), this year completely online.
It was the first time for LoLa 2.0 (Low Latency), the new version of the high quality video and audio system developed by the Tartini Music Conservatory of Trieste and GARR, which was designed to play remotely together and have music lessons, overcoming geographical boundaries and reducing the distance-related latency upto an imperceptible level. Playing music simultaneously between two locations was already possible with the first version of LoLa,: with this new version it is possible to connect three different places at the same time and to use up to 4 cameras for a better experience, both for live performances and for remote teaching.
Extending the number of locations offers significant advantages from the teaching point of view and encourages new collaborations between conservatories at the international level. LoLa 2.0 was first tested on n 6 November, as part of the Congress of the European Conservatory Association: the violinist Sebastiano Frattini performed from the Tartini Conservatory of Trieste played in Trio with the double bass player Christian Kalchhauser (connecting live from MDW of Vienna) and with pianist Kirke Karja (connecting live from the Estonian Academy of Music Theatre of Tallin).
Attendance was restricted to registered participants and the recording of the concert will be available soon on the Youtube channel and on the Tartini Conservatory's social networks.
An important role for this achievement was played by the SWING project, which exploited the new technological solutions. SWING is a project funded under the Erasmus + program and since 2018 it has been working to create a new profile of music teachers, able to work with the most advanced ICT technologies to enrich music teaching.
"The inauguration of an innovation is always exciting", says Claudio Allocchio, coordinator of the SWING project and GARR Senior Technical Officer . “It means being able to respond to well-defined needs. In the SWING project we have a continuous interaction between teachers and students, both using technology and developing the technology. This approach is essential to work on what is really needed”. “The Tartini Conservatory - explains Director Roberto Turrin - is proud of LoLa, a technology used over time with excellent results, even on the occasion of an event promoted with the global Global Music Education League network (founded in September, 2017 in Beijing, to bringing together authorities in music scholarship from around the world). Ten years later, and in the pandemic 2020 that made remote interaction such a pressing need, LoLa was able to renew itself and provide an additional value, confirming the Tartini Conservatory as a cutting-edge institution among musical training institutes in Italy and in the world for the adoption of new technologies applied to music education".
The SWING project is coordinated by GARR with the participation of some important European institutions for music teaching: the Tartini Conservatory of Trieste, the Academy of Music of Ljubljana, the University of Music and Interpretive Arts of Vienna, the Association European Conservatories and Musical Academies (AEC). The Royal Danish Academy of Music and the Verdi Conservatory of Milan also contribute as associated partners for musical and educational aspects and the Polytechnic University of Milan and ARNES, the Slovenian Research and Education Network, for the more strictly technological aspects.
The Jazz Trio performance on 6 November was an integral part of the AEC Congress program entitled "Connecting Communities in the Digital Age" which includes workshops, discussion forums, presentation of good practices, panels and plenary sessions dedicated to representatives of higher music education institutions in Europe and not only. The AEC association is a network that involves over 300 institutions in 57 countries.
The program
- Peace (Horace Silver) - My romance (R. Rodgers, L. Hart) - Blame On My Youth (O. Levant, E. Heyman)
- St. Thomas (Sonny Rollins) - Someday my prince will come (F. Churchill, L. Morey)
- Tenor Madness (Sonny Rollins) - Yardbird Suite (Charlie Parker) - Back home in Indiana (J. F. Hanley, B. McDonald)
Photo
credits: Paolo Carrer - Conservatorio Tartini di Trieste
INSIGHT
GARR
GARR is the ultra-broadband network dedicated to the Italian research and education community. Its main objective is to provide high-performance connectivity and to develop innovative services for the daily activities of researchers, professors and students as well as for international collaboration.
GARR network is designed and managed by Consortium GARR, a non-profit association founded under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, University and Research. The members are CNR, ENEA, INAF, INFN, INGV and CRUI Foundation, representing all Italian universities.
Further informations
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