[Switch~ Ensemble]

Experience the intersection of music, technology, and visual media as internationally acclaimed [Switch~ Ensemble] headline the 2027 Performing Media Festival. The keynote concert features Chris Chandler and Jason Thorpe Buchanan’s GRIDS, in which real-time projections react to the performers' movements to create interactive visuals. Switch~ also hosts workshops with young composers, offering insights to future creators. Through performance and engagement, this premier chamber ensemble introduces audiences to contemporary multimedia art through cutting-edge new works.

Credits

[Switch~ Ensemble]

[Switch~ Ensemble] is an internationally recognized chamber ensemble that collaborates with composers to create performances combining live music, electronics, and multimedia. For more than a decade, the ensemble has worked with composers to create and premiere new works while performing at festivals and venues throughout the United States and Europe. Working closely with composers allows the ensemble to develop new works that continually evolve through experimentation and performance.

[Switch~ Ensemble]

Ryan Olivier and the Performing Media Festival

Ryan Olivier is a composer, multimedia artist, and Associate Professor of Music at Indiana University South Bend, where he directs the electronic music ensemble, the Audio-Visual Collective, and teaches courses in electronic music composition and music technology. Olivier is also a founder of the annual Performing Media Festival.

Entering its eleventh year, the Performing Media Festival (PMF) brings artists, students, and audiences from around the world together to explore the intersection of music, technology, and visual media. Through performances, screenings, exhibitions, workshops, and artist talks, the festival showcases new work and builds community to share ideas across artistic disciplines.

Ryan Olivier Discover PMF

David Bird and Notre Dame’s Department of Music

David Bird, Assistant Professor of Music Technology and Digital Media at Notre Dame, is a composer, producer, and multimedia artist. His work has been performed at venues such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and has been released on labels such as Oxtail Recordings, New Focus Recordings, Carrier Records, and TAK Editions.

Notre Dame’s Department of Music combines musical practice with research that explores theories, histories, and cultures of music. The department promotes excellence in musical performance, composition, and scholarship in a spirit of inclusion, bringing together students with various skills and diverse backgrounds to study and collaborate with distinguished faculty in first-rate facilities.

David Bird Discover the Department of Music

Funding & Support

This is a partner program of the 2027 Notre Dame Arts Biennial, supported with funding from the Notre Dame Arts Initiative.

The Performing Media Festival is also made possible with support from the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at Indiana University South Bend. Venue and staffing support provided by Notre Dame’s College of Arts & Letters.