THE FRAGMENTED ORCHESTA

JANE GRANT JOHN MATTHIAS NICK RYAN (2008)

The Fragmented Orchestra is a huge distributed musical structure modelled on the firing of the human brain’s neurons. Twenty-four sites around the UK were connected to each other to form a “neural” network. The sonic information captured at these sites is transmitted over the internet, causing other sites to “fire”.
The Fragmented Orchestra was winner of the 2008 PRS Foundation’s New Music Award, the most prestigious award for new music in the UK, likened as the Turner Prize for music. It is also the recipient of an Honorary Mention at Prix Ars Electronica 2009.
This distributed neuronal instrument was exhibited at FACT in Liverpool, National Portrait Gallery, Goodison Park, Bronte Museum, Institute of Psychiatry, the Roundhouse and many other sites across the UK.