Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Black Box Communion constructs a network of feedback loops, where human bodies and technological systems mutually shape each other. The piece is based on the concept of a ‘black box’ – an opaque, algorithmic entity whose internal workings and processes remain unknown to the performers – which measures each musician's pulse in real-time and uses it to generate light and sound.
The three musicians follow neither a conductor, a metronome nor a score, but the sounds of their own hearts projected back to them. Rather than synchronising, they coexist in adjacent but distinct temporalities, each shaped by their individual perceptual experiences.
This loop forms a ritual: the performers commune with a system that listens, transforms and speaks back. The lights and sounds triggered by these pulses create a shifting environment that responds to the body whilst also shaping its behaviour in return. The performer becomes both source and subject of their own musical and biological processes.
Note by Hugo Bell
Chihiro Ono violin
Colin Alexander cello
Michelle Hromin clarinet
Filmed at the Soundhub Showcase on Friday 16 May 2025 at The Nave, St John’s Waterloo.
#LondonSymphonyOrchestra #ContemporaryMusic #Composer
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Black Box Communion constructs a network of feedback loops, where human bodies and technological systems mutually shape each other. The piece is based on the concept of a ‘black box’ – an opaque, algorithmic entity whose internal workings and processes remain unknown to the performers – which measures each musician's pulse in real-time and uses it to generate light and sound.
The three musicians follow neither a conductor, a metronome nor a score, but the sounds of their own hearts projected back to them. Rather than synchronising, they coexist in adjacent but distinct temporalities, each shaped by their individual perceptual experiences.
This loop forms a ritual: the performers commune with a system that listens, transforms and speaks back. The lights and sounds triggered by these pulses create a shifting environment that responds to the body whilst also shaping its behaviour in return. The performer becomes both source and subject of their own musical and biological processes.
Note by Hugo Bell
Chihiro Ono violin
Colin Alexander cello
Michelle Hromin clarinet
Filmed at the Soundhub Showcase on Friday 16 May 2025 at The Nave, St John’s Waterloo.
#LondonSymphonyOrchestra #ContemporaryMusic #Composer
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to the LSO's channel: bit.ly/LSOsubscribe
Subscribe to LSO newsletter: https://smarturl.it/lsonewsletter
Follow the LSO on:
Instagram: instagram.com/londonsymphonyorchestra
Facebook: facebook.com/londonsymphonyorchestra
TikTok: tiktok.com/@londonsymphonyorchestra
Twitter: twitter.com/londonsymphony
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/london-symphony-orchestra
Website: lso.co.uk
Apple Music: geni.us/yH0sXY
Spotify: spoti.fi/291cCk0
LSO Live: lsolive.lso.co.uk
