[Zoom-in] The sound of technologies
The soundscapes around us are a continuous evolution of melodies and dissonances, clasping new tendencies and branching in different directions in relation to the present currents. Here, you can find festivals that explore the ongoing evolution of music, with a particular focus on the relationship between contemporary and classical music and new technologies. Musicians dive into new aria, create groundbreaking melodies, drop new beats - they celebrate the richness of sound through the expanding boundaries of music and its innovative instruments.
RADAR Festival Beyond Music
07 Aug - 10 Aug 2025 | Varna, Bulgaria
Celebrating its 10th edition, this year's festival's theme is The Future of Music in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. The concerts explore the new and rapidely evolving relationship between AI and new technologies in the arts. Four days of jazz, electronica, visual projects by multidisciplinary international artists, and a special conference dedicated to the theme will transform familiar urban spaces into a stage for discovery. Eyes and ears to the present and the future, while rooting on the traditional venue of the Archaeological Museum.
For more info click here.
Photo credits: Radar-festival.eu
Curiosities
26 Jun - 26 Oct 2025 | Belgium: Ixelles, Namur, Saint-Hubert, Stavelot, Liège, Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Mons, Charleroi
Playing with the old and the new, playing with time and surprising unknown instruments - either because so new, or because they are so old and rare. This edition celebrates the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel's music and its playfulness, honoured through emblematic pieces, as well as through innovative interpretations - including instruments that are rarely seen or heard. The artists play with combinations of styles, from travel organ accompanied by electronic music, visual installations, or a viola da gamba playing a fado.
For more info click here.
Photo credits: lesfestivalsdewallonie.be
Traiettorie - Contemporary music festival
16 May - 19 Nov 2025 | Parma, Italy
Fifty pieces written in the new millennium, seven world premieres, six of which commissioned by the festival, and nine Italian premieres. The festival's XXXV edition offer a rich program in which renowed ensembles and soloists celebrate experimentation and sound research - the relationship between contemporary music and new technologies is the the focus and file rouge of this edition.
For more info click here.
Photo credits: Fanny Vicens_Ensemble Flashback
SHIP FESTIVAL
11 - 14 September 2025 | Sibenik, Croatia
40 Artists in 4 days: a journey across genres, from ethno, classical music, jazz to rock andelectronic. The SHIP Showcase Festival & Music Conference is an event offering workshops, panels, and roundtable discussions on current issues and developments in the music industry, giving the opportunity to artist to directly network with stakeholders in the music industry.
For more info click here.
Photo credits: SHIP.hr
Ibrida Festival - Moltitudine
25 - 28 September 2025 | Forlì, Italy
Video art, found footage, metacinema, 2D and 3D animation, performance art and electronic music: Moltitudini - Ibrida Festival investigates and divulgates the most recent productions and research carried on in the field of experimental audiovisual. "The evolution of software now allows for all sorts of semantic, linguistic and gender recombination, freeing artistic imagination from any categorical constraints. While the Internet assumes the role of a widespread technological unconscious, the artist retains the prerogative of inventing new worlds, finding visionary alternatives or parodying the existing, insisting on perception and human relationships as fundamental aspects of experience."
For more info click here.
Photo credits: ibridafestival.it
FOG festival
02 - 04 October 2025 | Basel, Switzerland
The innovative platform for experimental and contemporary electronic music takes place over three days at Basel’s Kaserne Areal and kHaus, bringing together a powerful mix of live concerts, sound art installations, audiovisual performances, DJ sets, educational workshops for children and young people. Alongside the concerts, a large-scale sound art exhibition explores contemporary kinetic and spatial practices, inspired by Basler artist Jean Tinguely.
For more info click here.
Photo credits: fogstudio.ch
