Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA)

05/31/2026

Stanford Laptop Orchestra presents Saturday Night SLOrk!

The orchestra is plugged in, sound checked, and code debugged (mostly). With a brand new generation of salad-bowl-based hemispherical speakers and new repurposed laptops, the Stanford Laptop Orchestra (SLOrk) returns to Bing Concert Hall for its annual Spring Concert. You are warmly invited to an evening of new musical works at the intersections of humans, computers, new instruments, hemispherical speaker arrays, and novel sonic spaces.

Saturday, June 6th, 2026
Bing Concert Hall, Stanford University
FREE and OPEN to All
(in-person and livestreamed)

6:45pm: Pre-concert talk
“Music and AI: What Do We (Really) Want?”
by Ge Wang, Director

7:30pm: Concert

05/25/2026

CCRMA Summer Workshops are open for registration! Open to both Stanford and non-Stanford participants.

This year’s lineup includes hands-on workshops in sound, music technology, creative coding, spatial audio, electronic music, physical interaction design, wearable instruments, experimental performance, and many more. Join us this summer at CCRMA.

For more information, visit: ccrma.stanford.edu/workshops

Flyer design: Simona Fitcal

05/22/2026

Introducing the Little Live Room Concert Recording Session — LLRCRS, pronounced “lurkers” — our newest concert series at CCRMA.

Each session is experienced across multiple spaces, each with its own mix: the CCRMA Stage, the live room, the control room, and the CCRMA livestream.

Images from our latest session, featuring a performance by Alex Han with a stacked band: Nathan Sariowan, Ryota Sato, Sid Yu, and Mike Mulshine.

05/21/2026

Leila Abdul-Rauf draws you into a cinematic sound world that explores the darkest corners of the psyche, conceptually delving into the deep vastness of the psyche of woman: wild, ugly, vulnerable, and powerful. On this evening, Leila will showcase pieces throughout her vast catalogue, from the more improvisational and textural ambience of her earlier work to the more rhythmic and vocally-driven intensity of her recent albums.

May 28 || 7:30PM || The CCRMA STAGE
Free and Open to public.

05/12/2026

Music and the Brain Symposium 2026: Join us for Listening in the Past: Sound, Space, and the Aesthetics of the Sublime, an in-person event where we dive deep into how sound shapes our experience of space and evokes the sublime. It is about exploring the magic of past soundscapes and their emotional power. Bring your curiosity and get ready for a captivating journey through history and sound!

May 22 & 23 || 10AM-9PM

05/10/2026

CCRMA SUMMER WORKSHOP: Perception-Based Orchestration for Composer-Performers, led by Nick Virzi and Yuval Adler
Aug 10–14

Explore how perception and cognition shape sound. Apply these ideas directly to composition and performance through discussion and creative work. Learn more: https://ccrma.stanford.edu/workshops/ Registrations are now open!

CCRMA Summer Workshops are one-week intensive programs at CCRMA, open to the public, bringing together music, engineering, and creative technology.

05/08/2026

The annual CCRMA Open House is happening today, May 8, 10AM-6PM. Stop by to checkout the demos, lectures, performances, and installations by the CCRMAlites!

Free and open to the public.

05/07/2026

CCRMA SUMMER WORKSHOP: Audio-Centric Game Design in ChucK+ChuGL, led by Kunwoo Kim, Ge Wang, and Andrew Zhu
Aug 3–7

Build interactive audiovisual games and systems. Learn real-time sound, graphics, and interaction through hands-on creative coding. Learn more: https://ccrma.stanford.edu/workshops/ Registrations are now open!

CCRMA Summer Workshops are one-week intensive programs at CCRMA, open to the public, bringing together music, engineering, and creative technology.

04/29/2026

Come see what we’ve been doing up at the Knoll! Join us for lectures, hands-on demonstrations, posters, installations, and musical performances of recent CCRMA research including sound synthesis, music in AI, online music-making, data-driven research in music cognition, and a musical instrument petting zoo!

Friday, May 8 || 9:30AM - 6:00PM
Free and open to public. For more info, visit ccrma.stanford.edu

12/21/2025

A true pioneer!!! So much music exists because of our very own John Chowning. Congratulations on the Technical GRAMMY Award.

A pioneer in music, technology, and exploration. 💫

John Chowning is a pioneering composer and computer-music innovator whose discovery of FM synthesis in 1967 transformed electronic sound. He helped build Stanford’s computer-music program, co-founded Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), and created the digital algorithms behind surround sound. His FM patent, licensed to Yamaha, became the most successful synthesis engine in history.

His groundbreaking work has earned him election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the French Ordre des Arts et Lettres, and multiple other honors.

On January 31, 2026 we are honoring this year's Special Merit Award recipients, including John Chowning with the Technical GRAMMY Award. 🏆 Learn more about the Special Merit Awards at the link below.