electro//acoustic day 2026
In 2024, a new concept was born: electro//acoustic day.
It brings together exceptional performers in classical instrumental and vocal repertoire alongside cutting-edge electronic music, building a programme that moves fluidly between tradition and invention. Electronic music then becomes a living embodiment of sound — one that expands timbre and space, and invites audiences into an experience that is both immersive and intellectually engaging.
On 19 March 2026, electro//acoustic day returns to West Road Concert Hall and Foyer for a full day of concerts and events that reimagine what classical music can be when it opens its doors to electronics, space, and new ways of listening.
Come to meet performers and composers at an alumni reception in the foyer at 5pm.
The day is designed as a connected journey rather than a series of isolated moments: performances that move between acoustic music, electroacoustic works, and new creations, as well as events that activate West Road beyond the traditional stage format: performances that blur the line between concert, exhibition, discussions, and encounters.
Dr Marta Gentilucci during rehearsals for electro//acoustic day 2025
What makes electro//acoustic day distinctive is the way it invites audiences to listen differently. In a culture where “electronic sound” is often associated only with commercial music or background listening, this event reveals a rich artistic tradition — a lineage of composers who built a repertoire as ambitious, nuanced, and historically significant as any other modern music.
This year’s theme, unfolding, invites audiences to think of music not as a finished object, but as something that emerges — gradually, unevenly, and through time. Rather than aiming for neat conclusions, the day follows processes of revealing and becoming sound, opening into new layers of meaning, memory, and transformation.
A central expression of this theme is the immersive installation on common ground | unfolding, created through collaboration between CSVPA (Cambridge School of Visual and Performing Arts) visual artists and Faculty of Music composition students. Here, moving image and newly composed sound evolve together in real time in the West Road Foyer, shaping an experience that encourages visitors to wander, pause, return, and notice how attention itself changes what is heard and seen.
An installation from 2025's electro//acoustic day
The 2026 edition also pays tribute to two towering pioneers of 20th-century music: Luciano Berio and Roberto Gerhard. Both composers expanded the boundaries of composition not by rejecting the past, but by questioning it from within — opening new musical possibilities from familiar materials. Their presence within the programme offers a strong link between history and today’s international creative practice, reminding us that the most adventurous music is often rooted in deep musical thought and craft.
The first and second iterations of electro//acoustic day proved that this repertoire is far from inaccessible when presented with imagination and care. It sparked real enthusiasm among audiences and participants, and the response showed a clear appetite for more events of this kind. That sense of momentum is exactly what this alumni invitation celebrates: something has been set in motion, and it is continuing to unfold.
On 19 March 2026 we warmly invite alumni to join us at West Road for a day that showcases the Faculty’s creative ambition, its international reach, and its commitment to building a vibrant musical culture that speaks to the present moment. Full programme details can be found at www.electroacousticday.com
Dr. Marta Gentilucci
Assistant Professor in Composition
Director of the Electronic Music Studio