Internet and CESNET Connect Musicians in Different Parts of the World

Miami, Prague, 5 April 2016. As part of the Network Performing Arts Production workshop, held at the New World Center in Miami on 22 March, CESNET presented new possibilities for international collaboration of musicians and presentations of Czech culture.

Using the 4K Gateway device, CESNET organised a distributed cultural performance as the main partner in cooperation with HAMU in Prague and the US research network Internet2: the leading Czech organist Jaroslav Tůma played in the Church of the Assumption of Virgin Mary in Brno, while the trumpeter George Goad played simultaneously at the New World Center. The two musicians were separated by more than 8000 kilometres. The church in Brno has boasted a new organ since 2014. The performance was new in using this unique instrument as well as the long distance between the musicians. The performance showed that by using high-speed networks and the latest transmission technology, a unique instrument connected with a specific place can be used for a joint concert with musicians abroad playing in their home institution. The event was therefore watched by representatives of other musical academies in Europe and the United States as well as the academic networks GÉANT and Internet2.

The 4K Gateway device is based on the technology developed in  the POVROS project, supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, executed by CESNET in collaboration with Visual Unity and ACE. The low added latency enables remote collaboration in real time even in areas so critically dependent on transmission latency such as remote colaboration in classical music. Cultural institutions abroad have shown their interest in the technology; they will be able to employ new teaching methods, exchange experience and save time in preparing for various performances. The transmission was made using the domestic national research and education network CESNET, the European GÉANT infrastructure and the Internet2.

Another performance, for which the UltraGrid technology was used for a change, was CENICtivity: Jazz Expressed Across Networks. By means of the Internet2 and CENIC research networks in the USA, the jazz concert connected members of the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars in San Francisco, the composer, teacher and jazz pianist Geri Allen of the University of Pittsburgh, who performed at the University of California-Davis as part of the CENIC 2016 conference, and Professor Chris Chafe of Stanford University, who played the violoncello at the New World Center in Miami. The performance, produced primarily by CESNET partners SFJAZZ and CENIC, demonstrated a combination of connection of three Yamaha Disklavier pianos, the JackTrip software developed at Stanford University, and the UltraGrid solution.

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Jaroslav Tůma is a leading Czech organist, pianist, harpsichordist, teacher and music populariser. He has taught at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague since 1992. He has performed in many countries of Europe, in the USA, Japan and other countries. He makes recordings for radio, television and numerous music publishers. He holds many awards from international festivals, he is a jury member at international organ and harpsichord competitions and an advisor for restoration of historical organs.

The Faculty of Music and Dance is one of the three faculties of the Academy of Performing Arts (AMU) in Prague (DAMU, FAMU, HAMU), established in 1945. The AMU is a member of European university and art associations with coverage outside the European continent, such as the EUA and ELIA, and a member of CESNET. It provides bachelors, masters and doctoral study programmes, participates in organisation of international music festivals (e.g., Prague Spring), and conducts research on music acoustics and psychoacoustics.

The CESNET Association was founded by Czech universities and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in 1996. It is engaged in research and development in information and communication technologies and builds and develops the CESNET national e-infrastructure for research and education. With its research activities and accomplishments, CESNET represents the Czech Republic in international projects, most notably the pan-European GÉANT network building project and grid projects (EGI.eu), and participates actively in their implementation. The association also works on the use of high-speed networks for sharing multimedia data both through synchronous video conferencing and shared applications, and asynchronous streaming.

Last change: 14.11.2017