Recently, he has premiered works by composers including Tod Machover, Daníel Bjarnason, Joby Talbot, Gabriel Prokofiev, Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Steve Reich, Martin Suckling, Milton Mermikides, Howard Goodall, John Metcalfe, Scott Walker, and Sally Beamish. He collaborates regularly with world leading technologists, most recently including Microsoft Labs, UnitedVisualArtists and the MIT Media Lab.

1. Which work are you particularly proud of? Which work best represents your style or approach?

My most recent project, The Listening Machine, is something I’m really proud of. It is a data sonification for live chamber orchestra: it turns tweets of 500 UK users into live music, based on sentiment, topic and prosody of their words. It is a natively digital piece of music and was a really exciting collaboration between technologist Daniel Jones and myself as composer.

The Listening Machine System Status (Screenshot Aug. 22, 2012, 12:56 pm) © The Listening Machine 2012 Britten Sinfonia, Peter Gregson and Daniel Jones

2. The theme of this year’s TYPO London is »Social«. Do you consider design to be a social discipline? Which design project do you consider to be particularly socially relevant?

I’m not a designer, really… but as a musician, I believe our work is only relevant if it means something to people, if it resonates within a community of people. In the past few years »Social« has been hi-jacked to refer to something digital, but really we have to remember that it’s always about the people who make and the people who consume.

Peter Gregson

Peter Gregson is a cellist and composer. He recently developed and was commissioned to compose ‘The Listening Machine‘ in collaboration with Daniel Jones and Britten Sinfonia for the BBC/Arts Council’s “The Space”. Based on the activity of 500 Twitter users around the United Kingdom the Listening Machine is an automated system that generates a continuous piece of music. Their conversations, thoughts and feelings are translated into musical patterns in real time, which you can tune in to at any point through any web-connected device. It runs continuously till November 2012 and it will continue to develop and grow over time, adjusting its responses to social patterns and generating subtly new musical output. Peter is known for his passion for contemporary music. He premiered works by composers including Tod Machover, Daníel Bjarnason, Joby Talbot, Gabriel Prokofiev, Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Steve Reich, Martin Suckling, Milton Mermikides, Howard Goodall, John Metcalfe, Scott Walker, and Sally Beamish and he collaborates with many of the world’s leading technologists, including Microsoft Labs, UnitedVisualArtists, Reactify and the MIT Media Lab. Peter‘s Performance highlights for 2012/13 include The Royal Festival Hall, La Gaite Lyrique, SXSW, Aldeburgh and tours of the United States, as well as conference appearances including ‘Thinking Digital’, ‘Shift Happens’ and ‘FutureEverything’. Throughout 2012, Peter is the Artistic Advisor to the Innovation Forum at the New England Conservatory, Boston. At TYPO London he leads “Social” beyond the barrier of visibility.

Speaker page

3. A conference like TYPO London is in itself an obvious example for a social event: what are you especially looking forward to?

I’m really looking forward to being exposed to all the different ideas and insights from a different creative industry!

4. Required reading/watching: What are currently your favorite interesting/beautiful publications, exhibitions, books, movies and/or websites?

I travel a lot, and so my regular reading comes from inflight magazines… sad but true. I’ve also been reading my friend Ben Hammersley’s book, »64 Things You Need To Know Now For Then«. It’s fab.

I also have an addiction to pretty much everything Phaidon produces.