The role of John Chowning in the contruction of Ircam (1973-1977)

Curious to know the background of the birth of IRCAM? The very close influences between John Chowning and Pierre Boulez? First meetings, correspondence and agendas, first architectural and software design, in short, the unknown facts that led to the birth of one of the leading Computer Music centers for music production and research?

Read the article (in pre-print) by François-Xavier Féron and myself, titled “L’empreinte de John Chowning dans la construction de l’Ircam: de sa rencontre avec Pierre Bouleze en 1973 à la creation de Stria en 1977” (“The footprint of John Chowning in the contruction of Ircam: from his first meeting with Pierre Boulez in 1973 until the creation of Stria in 1977) presented at the JIM – Journées d’Informatique Musicale 2023 in Paris – and where we also explain the methodology of the fantastic project RAMHO project (Recherche et Acoustique Musicales : une Histoire Orale).

The article is available here and will be published soon in the Proceedings of the JIM Journées d’Informatique Musicale 2023: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-04140906

Figure 1: Sketch of the Espace de Projection as it was originally designed [IRCAM, Brochure de présentation, Centre Beaubourg – Ircam, 1972, p. 21].

Figure 2: Beginning of the letter written by Chowning to Rozenn Risset, Max and Marge Mathews after the series of concerts organized by Ircam in October 1974 at the Théâtre d’Orsay [Arch. Chowning].