PERMANENT SEMINAR ON CREATION, PERFORMANCE AND ARTISTIC RESEARCH
6.03.2026 | 11 am – 6 pm | DeCA UA | CIME Studio | DeCA Auditorium
Free entrance and in person.
Lecture | 11 am | CIME Studio
Composition with new media: utopy and distopy
Alberto Bernal | RCSMMadrid
For many decades now, the use of new media in composition has been always accompanied by a utopian aura, shaped by the belief that it could expand the sound world of instrumental music toward almost unlimited creative possibilities. Today, however, in a world clearly dominated by technology—and under an accumulation of power directly mediated through it—that utopia may no longer seem the same. If our relationship with new media in the realm of art was born out of this utopian vision, what might be the consequences of its supposed collapse? Drawing on both my own work and that of others, this talk will explore these questions and ultimately ask: what kind of relationship with, and use of, new media can we—or do we want to—have from our position as creators, connoisseurs, and users of new media?
Concert | 6 pm | DeCA Auditorium
Alberto Bernal | RCSMMadrid
Alberto Bernal will present a monographic concert in collaboration with members of the Research Group in Creation, Performance and Artistic Research at INET-md, alongside students from the Departamento de Comunicação e Arte da Universidade de Aveiro
Alberto Bernal | Composer and sound artist of classical education and several influences, with works framed near the turning point between traditional concert situations and other disciplines like installation, performance or videoart. He starts his musical education in Spain, moving later to Germany, where he studies with Mathias Spahlinger, Peter Ablinger and Mesias Maiguashca. His work is being defined in the last time as a deconstruction of several musical “a- prioris” that root in the socio-political reality. This leads the discourse into an area where the borders of music are questioned through several procedures: irruption of performative, spatial and visual elements into the musical realm, amalgams with language or with recordings of the “outside”… He has been represented in a number of places among Europe, America and Asia, and laureated with several prizes and grants: Darmstadt Summer courses, Humboldt Foundation, DAAD, La Caixa, Academia Europaea, SWR Stuttgart, Spanish Culture Ministry, Residencia de Estudiantes, Casa Velazquez, BBVA Foundation… Besides his activity as a composer, he carries an intense labor as lecturer and writer, with regular publications in several media and numerous lectures and courses in different institutions. Since 2023 he is professor at the Royal Conservatory of Madrid.