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BEAST

BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre) is the concert sound system of the University of Birmingham’s Electroacoustic Music Studios.
Leads in a junction box

Founded in 1982 by Jonty Harrison, since 2014 BEAST has been under the direction of Scott Wilson, with Annie Mahtani as co-director from 2020, and Simon Smith as technical director. Over the decades since its launch BEAST has become established as one of the leading systems for the presentation of electronic music in the world, and as an ongoing catalyst for creation and innovation in the field.

BEAST is particularly recognised for its key role in championing the development of acousmatic music – music composed especially for loudspeakers – and live ‘diffusion’, a practice aimed at creating immersive sonic experiences in concert. While continuing to advance creative work in these areas, BEAST is also a platform for a wide variety of sound-based art in various styles and genres, including live electronic music, pieces combining instruments and electronic sound, soundscape composition/phonology, and sound installations.

  • Performer with a mannequin head

    BEAST FEaST 2019

  • A poster on a lamppost with speakers

    Zach Dawson installation, BEAST FEaST 2022

  • The Dome Room bathed in blue light as a performer stands before the seated audience

    Jennifer Roche, BEASTdome Headlong... , 2019

  • Audience in a large auditorium with a projection and speakers

    Rafał Zapała, BEASTFEaST 2018

  • The blindfolded audience lying on the floor underneath a domed ceiling

    BEAST: Evensong, 2015

Academics

  • Professor Scott Wilson

    Professor of Composition and Electronic Music

    Biographical and contact information for Professor Scott Wilson, Professor of Composition and Electronic Music at the University of Birmingham.

  • Professor Annie Mahtani

    Professor of Electroacoustic Composition and Practice

    Biographical and contact information for Professor Annie Mahtani, Professor of Electroacoustic Composition and Practice at the University of Birmingham.

  • Professor Christopher Haworth

    Professor of Twenty-First Century Music

    Biographical and contact information for Professor Christopher Haworth, Professor of Twenty-First Century Music at the University of Birmingham.

  • Professor Jonty Harrison

    Emeritus Professor of Composition and Electroacoustic Music

    Biographical and contact information for Professor Jonty Harrison, Professor of Composition and Electroacoustic Music at the University of Birmingham.

Performances at home and abroad

BEAST has performed extensively in the UK and other parts of Europe, including at London’s South Bank Centre, the Edinburgh and Huddersfield Festivals, the Henry Wood Hall in Glasgow, MultiMediale II in Karlsruhe, The Royal Dutch Conservatory in The Hague, The Acousmatic Experience in Amsterdam, the Aspekte Festival in Salzburg, the Inventionen Festival in Berlin, the Echt-Zeit Festival in Basel, Aix en Musique in Aix en Provence, and the Sound Around Festival in Copenhagen. Closer to home BEAST’s activities have included regular contributions in The Series at the CBSO Centre as part of our collaboration with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. In 2012 BEAST began holding concerts in its new home, the bespoke designed Elgar Concert Hall at the Bramall Music Building, arguably one of the best venues of its size for the presentation of electronic music in UK and elsewhere.

One of the largest systems of its type in the world, BEAST can mount setups of as many as 100 loudspeakers distributed around the concert space. This approach goes far beyond the capabilities of commodity and cinema ‘surround sound’ systems, allowing artists to create vivid and unique sound worlds, which immerse the listener in a new and engaging sonic experience.

Sound and video examples

Offspring

Numerous current and former members of BEAST have established other presentation systems, ensembles and organisations. In addition to our own BEASTdome and BEER, here are a number of projects which we recommend

Bogotá Los Andes Sound Theatre is one of the few multichannel systems for the presentation of electroacoustic music in Latin America. Associated with the SPECTRA Festival, and directed by BEAST alumnus Jorge Gregorio Garcia Moncada.

Birmingham based SOUNDkitchen is dedicated to the promotion of composers and artists working in the field of sound, providing a regular platform for local artists to explore, experiment and present their work alongside that of international composers and sound artists. It offers a programme of exciting and eclectic new music that uses technology to form part of the aesthetic experience.

Formed in 2014 by graduate Julien Guilamat, KLANG is an acousmonium comprising 59 speakers based in the South of France.

New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) is a non-profit organization, based in Toronto, that presents performances and installations spanning the entire spectrum of electroacoustic and experimental sound art.

BiLE (Birmingham Laptop Ensemble) are a collaborative group of composers (instrumental and electroacoustic), performers. Six artists were brought together through their shared interest in live performance and desire to perform and improvise together in an interactive ensemble.

Exploring innovative digital music, art and research which investigates the impact of networking technology on musical creation and performance practice, Network Music Festival presents cutting edge and hi-tech musical performances, installations, workshops and talks.

Contact BEAST

BEAST and the Electroacoustic Music Studios,
Department of Music,
University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom

+44 121 414 5782

beast@contacts.bham.ac.uk