The Music Technology Center at the Juilliard School, in collaboration with Yamaha (News - Alert) Corporation of America, have redefined the live concert experience with Beyond the Machine: 12.1 Synchroneity-A Festival of Electro-Acoustic and Intermedia (News - Alert) Art.

The presentation took place from March 29 - April 1 and featured Yamaha's Disklavier RemoteLive technology and linked three pianists on two continents and three time zones,via the Internet, in a single, remarkable, live musical performance.

Beyond the Machine is a multimedia performance environment featuring artists from around the world who share an interest in technology and collaboration. With the support of Juilliard's Music Technology Center, actors, dancers and musicians use digital technology to produce new musical sounds, control lighting and video with body sensors, shape audio and video events by moving through a virtual field, and interact with artists around the world via the Web.

Three pianists played John Cage's Winter Music (scored for 1-20 pianos) together on stage at the Juilliard School's Willson Theater, but with only one pianist physically present. The other two instruments were played live and in real-time by musicians in Kakegawa, Japan and Buena Park, Calif., via Internet-connected Disklavier performance-reproducing pianos, in one of several exciting new applications of Yamaha's RemoteLive technology.

The Disklavier is an acoustic piano fitted with a system of sensors that record every aspect of a performance, including pitch, dynamics, phrasing, and pedaling. The performance information can be stored on a hard drive and recalled for a later performance. The latest model of Disklaviers can be connected to one another via the Internet. Once connected, the performance information can be transmitted from one instrument to the others and be immediately reproduced with perfect precision, even on the other side of the globe.

"We wanted to explore whether we could evoke an authentic sense of 'ensemble' and artistic unity by joining performers from different parts of the globe with new technology, such as RemoteLive," said Edward Bilous, artistic director for Beyond the Machine and founding director of The Juilliard Music Technology Center, in a statement . "This production's success fulfilled our goals of expanding the concert experience, pushing the boundaries of the performing arts and, ultimately, making the world a little smaller."

Juilliard's Music Technology Center was created in 1993 to provide students with the opportunity to use digital technology in the creation and performance of new music. The program has since expanded to include a wide offering of classes, including Introduction to Music Technology, Music Production, Film Scoring, Computers in Performance, and an Independent Study in Composition.

On April 18, 2012, the Music Technology Center at Juilliard will be renamed the "Center for Innovation in the Arts - A Program for the Advancement of Creativity in the Performing Arts and Education" with Bilous as director.