01Introduction
JACOPO BABONI SCHILINGI is a composer who specializes in creating interactive music. He developed an approach called "Consubstantial aesthetics," which combines human intelligence, both emotional and logical, with artificial intelligence. He has been working with AI since 1996, programming and managing its use in his music. In 2000, he started an artistic movement called PRISMA, bringing together over twenty composers from various parts of the world. International media describe him as one of the most representative composers of his generation. His concerts and performances have brought him recognition within the circles of conservatories and classical music concert venues: he had a composer’s residency at IRCAM in Paris [1994–2000], he has been an associated artist at the Saline Royale d'Arc-et-Senans [for 3 years], a curator for the international yearly PRISMA conference [since 2000], an associated artist of the EMW Festival at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music [4 years], a visiting scholar at Harvard University in the United States, a guest professor at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music [3 years], etc. His visual art and music production has attracted the interest of new multidisciplinary artistic expression scenes that use a combination of images, videos, architecture and interactions with the audience: Sanlitun Village in Beijing, UniCredit Pavilion in Milan, Grand Palais in Paris, Nexus Hall in Tokyo, Streaming Museum in New York City, etc.
His work with Arman in the 2000s led to a series of creations with Miguel Chevalier, Jean-Pierre Balpe, Alain Fleischer, Elias Crespin, Sarkis, etc. In 2015, he made a double contribution to the Venice Biennale: he composed the music for the Turkish pavilion [Respiro della voce] and organized the concert for the closing day in the Armory. Jacopo Baboni Schilingi has written music for big sponsors such as Hermès and Samsung. From 2015 to 2018, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi was sponsored by the Camille Fournet house in Paris for his ARGO installation, which was exhibited in the Grand Palais in Paris, as part of the “Artists and Robots” exhibition. From 2018 to 2020, he was sponsored by CHANEL for a series of residencies, a monographic concert and a monographic exhibition in Tokyo. In 2021 and 2022 he created a new artistic residency model at the Murate Art District [MAD] museum in Florence. In one year he realised 3 installations in Florence [one along the river Arno and two in the Museum], 3 performances of dance, fine arts and music, 3 concerts and a series of 4 lecture sessions at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze and the Conservatorio di Musica Luigi Cherubini in Florence.
02Education
Born in Milan in 1971 and naturalized French in 2013, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi started studying piano at the age of six and slowly started composing without any formal training or supervision throughout his childhood. At 14, he joined Ivan Fedele’s composition class in Milan and earned his first composition award in 1994. In the meantime, he was also studying orchestral conducting with Vittorio Parisi. In January 1994, at the age of 22, he was selected for IRCAM’s annual course in composition and musical computing, which ran from October 1994 to September 1995. He remained at IRCAM until 2000. During this period, he started studying at the Académie de Royaumont in 1996, with Brian Ferneyhough and Klaus Huber.
From 1997 to 2003, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi was chosen by Luciano Berio as an apprentice. He made him travel around Italy, France and Germany, teaching him about composition, aesthetics, and management of artistic production in his pragmatic manner.
In 1998, he obtained a Master of Advanced Studies in 20th-century musicology at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences [EHESS], under Hugues Dufourt’s direction. He completed his academic studies in 2010, obtaining a Doctorate in Art aesthetics, science and technology, specializing in music with honors and unanimous congratulations from the jury [summa cum laude], under the direction of Georges Molinié [President of Paris-IV-Sorbonne University].
03Concerts And Production
Between the ages of 15 and 18, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi was taking the first steps of his career as a composer in Milan, notably in the following concert halls: Teatro Litta, Teatro delle Erbe, Istituto Gonzaga, Palazzina Liberty, Villa Simonetta, Auditorium Lattuada, Castello Sforzesco, Spazio Ansaldo, etc.
At 18, he started performing at many international festivals and musical seasons organized by great musical institutions. In Paris, his music has been played at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Philharmonie, the Festival Présences organized by the Maison de Radio France, the Seine Musicale, the Festival Présences électroniques, organized by INA-GRM, the Opéra Comique, IRCAM, or even the Théâtre Molière and the Théâtre du Lierre. He has also performed at other venues in Paris such as the Grand Palais, the Carrousel du Louvre, the Institut de France, David Lynch’s Silencio, but also the Saint-Germain-des-Prés abbey and the Church of Saint-Séverin. His music has also been played in other French cities such as Lyon [at the Festival of Lights], Strasbourg [Musica], Metz [Arsenal], Nice [Manca Festival], the Silvacane Abbey, the Royaumont Abbey, Notre-Dame du Haut [Ronchamp], the Besançon Festival, Novelum Festival in Toulouse, the Lieu Unique of Nantes, and other cities such as Avignon, Belfort, Caen, Dijon, Fontainebleau, Marseille, Montbéliard, Perpignan, etc.
In 1996, he and Pierre Boulez played at a concert organized at the IRCAM by Mrs Pompidou for the Paul Sacher Foundation. In the same year, IRCAM organized the opening concert of its new seasons, playing works by Pierre Boulez, Brian Ferneyhough, Philippe Manoury and Jacopo Baboni Schilingi.
As for international festivals and musical seasons in other countries, his music has been played at the Venice Biennale, the Parco della Musica in Rome, Musica Presente in Milan, Nuova Consonanza, Settembre Musica, Santa Cecilia in Italy, The Juilliard School, Columbia University, Miller Theatre, Alvin Ailey Theater, Spectrum, in New York, Harvard University, Cambridge and University of Texas [USA], Cottbus Festival, Schreyahner Herbst, Musik im 21. Jahrhundert, Neue Italienische Musikszene, [Germany] ; Festival Ars Musica and Festival Artonov [Belgium], International Music Week of Shanghai, Musicacoustica in Beijing, New Music Festival in Wuhan [China] ; CHANEL Nexus Hall in Tokyo [Japan], Gaudeamus Festival [Netherlands], in the Tonhalle of Zurich [Switzerland], the International Zagreb Biennale [Croatia] ; the Bartók Festival [Hungary], etc.
His works have been performed by the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, the Orchestre symphonique de Cottbus, Ensemble intercontemporain, the Arditti Quartet, the Ensemble Court-Circuit, the Klangforum Wien, L’Itinéraire, the Collegium Novum Zürich, the Ensemble Dell'Orchestra Sinfonica « Arturo Toscanini », the Dedalo Ensemble, the Pléiades, the Quatuor Léonis, and the Ensemble Contraste, among others.
He also works with soloists such as Simon Ghraichy [an artist working with Deutsche Grammophon], Célimène Daudet [a Yamaha artist], Claude Delangle, Nicholas Isherwood, Anne Delafosse-Quentin, Christian Schmitt, Pascal Contet, Matteo Bevilacqua, Luca Quintavalle and the two singers Tamara Bounazou and Axelle Saint-Cirel.
His works have been promoted and distributed by the Alliances Françaises circuit, the Instituts Français de Culture [in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Greece, Japan, Mexico] as well as the Istituti Italiani di Cultura in Paris and Strasbourg [France] Tokyo [Japan] and Stockholm [Sweden].
Since 2001, he has been writing various pieces of music for dancers, by working with the principal dancers of Martha Graham’s dance company and the Buglisi company in New York, the MK company [in Italy] and the ACT2 company in France. Since 2017, he has been collaborating with dancer PeiJu Chien-Pott, with whom he has produced shows in New York, Paris and Taiwan. In 2019, he performed at the Seine Musicale with Simon Ghraichy and Marie-Agnès Gillot [étoile at the Paris Opera].
He also composed over ten film scores for directors Henry Colomer [for whom he composed the music for two films], Olivier Mille, Olivier and Anaïs Spiro as well as Alain Fleischer, which were respectively produced by Arte, Archipel 33/35, Point du Jour and Artline Films.
His music has been played in 35 different countries, more specifically in Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dubai, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, USA.
In 2027, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi will mark 40 years of artistic activity. His work has featured in more than 500 events, spanning concerts, installations, performances, exhibitions and film music, including more than 60 monographic concerts and performances. His first monographic concert took place in 1989 at the Teatro Litta in Milan.
04Exhibitions And Installations
Since 1996, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi has been involved in the creation of interactive and generative musical installations. Baboni Schilingi has composed music for more than 30 installations, 12 of which were created and directed by himself, 15 as a collaboration with Miguel Chevalier, 3 with Sarkis, 3 with Elias Crespin and one with Arman.
His first installation (AIMTR) was presented to the IRCAM for 1996’s artistic season and the Festival Musica of Strasbourg in the same year.
In 2000, with the artist Arman, he created an interactive work called the “Venus à gonds” (Venus with door hinges), which was exhibited in France and Italy during various contemporary art festivals.
Since 2001, he has been writing music for many interactive installations by Miguel Chevalier such as Metapolis at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Monterrey (Mexico), Terra Incognita at the São Paulo Museum of Art (Brazil), Complex Meshes at the Durham Cathedral (UK), etc. The 8-ties installation was sponsored by Hermès and was performed in 20 world metropolises.
In 2013, he began working with artist Elias Crespin on a series of pieces blending mobile sculptures and generative music, exhibited in Paris, Nice and Berlin.
In 2014, he met artist Sarkis, for whom he composed the music for an installation/performance at the Musée du Château des Ducs de Wurtemberg in Montbéliard. In 2015, he worked for Sarkis again, composing the music for the Respiro exhibition at the Biennale de Venise in 2015, and for an installation at the Festival Printemps de septembre in Toulouse, in 2018.
In 2017, during the EXPO-2017 in Astana (Kazakhstan), he was commissioned by the Réunion des Musées Nationaux de France to create ARGO. This is a generative installation, which relies on the artist’s breathing, recorded without interruption throughout his whole life.
In 2018, the Grand Palais in Paris chose Jacopo Baboni Schilingi’s ARGO for the Artists & Robots exhibition and commissioned him to write TERRA for the soirée des grands mécènes (dinner party in honor of benefactors).
In 2020, CHANEL commissioned Jacopo Baboni Schilingi to write an interactive installation with photographs and music for the monographic Bodyscore – the soul signature, at the CHANEL Nexus Hall in Tokyo (Japan).
05Publications
Since 1989, when Jacopo Baboni Schilingi was 18, his music has been released by the Italian publisher Suvini Zerboni - Milano.
Since 1994, he has published over thirty articles in academic journals, on composition, musical research and digital technology.
In 2000, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi designed and created the first CD-ROM from IRCAM, « Dix jeux d’écoute », released by the Centre Pompidou and distributed by the Éditions Hyptique in the « Musiques Tangibles » collection.
In 2007, he published La musique Hyper-systémique (Hyper-systemic music), his first book on aesthetics, at Éditions Mix-Paris (the book was re-edited in 2018). In 2008, he published his second book, Six modèles d’analyse herméneutique (Six models of hermeneutic analysis) also at Éditions Mix-Paris.
In 2023, he published La firma – dodici proposte per la creazione della musica nel XXI secolo (THE SIGNATURE – Twelve Memos for Musical Creation in the 21st Century) with MIMESIS, in which he analyses the crisis of so-called contemporary music and formalizes Consubstantial Aesthetics. The French version was published in 2024. An interactive English version is planned for 2027.
06Recordings
Jacopo Baboni Schilingi’s music has been released by record companies such as Deutsche Grammophon, Harmonia Mundi, Paraty, éOle records, Telos Music, Mandala Music, EMA Vinci, etc. Some of his compositions have been re-edited, distributed and compiled in 11 CDs. Two of them were monographic records: « Nox », produced by Paraty and distributed by Harmonia Mundi, and « On one condition… », produced and distributed by éOle records.
07Documentaries On Jacopo Baboni Schilingi’S Work
In 2000, producing companies ATOPIC and ARTE asked Hervé Nisic to shoot a documentary on Jacopo Baboni Schilingi and his concert Trois mythologies et un poète aveugle (Three mythologies and a blind poet), created with IRCAM.
In 2007, producing companies Play Film and Mezzo asked Julien Lousteau to shoot a second documentary, Nuova pratica - Portrait du compositeur Jacopo Baboni Schilingi, distributed by MEZZO.
08Awards And Mentions
When he was still a student, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi received international awards and honorable mentions from institutions such as Premio Trio di Trieste (1992), Biennale of Lisbon (1994), Borsa Ferrari in Milan (1995).
In 2006, the Maison de la Radio in Paris commissioned him to write a radiophonic piece, which received the Honorable Mention of the Prix Italia.
In 2013, Minister of Culture and Communication Aurélie Filippetti named Baboni Schilingi Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, at the suggestion of Minister of Economy and Finance, Monsieur Pierre Moscovici.
09Institutional Responsibilities
Since 1999, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi has been the director of the composition program at the
Conservatoire de Musique, de Danse et d'Art Dramatique du Pays de Montbéliard. He teaches composition, orchestration and aesthetics, and coordinates creative projects at a departmental, regional, national and international scale. Under Jacopo Baboni Schilingi’s direction, students of the composition program, as well as teachers and students in the instrument-playing programs, have had the opportunity to perform various concerts in France (Paris, Dijon, Montbéliard, Belfort, Metz, Besançon, etc.), but also in Italy (Milan, Florence), China (Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Nanjing, Anhui, Hefei), Japan (Tokyo), the United States (New York, Cambridge), Argentina (Buenos Aires, Córdoba), as well as Chile (Santiago, La Serena, Valparaíso).
Many composers who were taught by Baboni Schilingi have taught in various universities or conservatories around the world. Among these former students, here are a few names: Ketty Nez (Boston University), Cathy van Eck (Bern University of the Arts), Lorenzo Bianchi (Conservatoire de Montbéliard), Cyril Michaud (Conservatoire de Montbéliard), Guilherme Carvalho (Paul-Valéry University, Montpellier), Julien Vincenot (PhD at Harvard University), Carla Cisno (Columbia University), Bárbara Varassi Pega (Codarts University of the Arts, Rotterdam), Gaja Maffezzoli (Conservatoire de Montbéliard), Carlo Ciceri (Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana, Lugano), Jean-François Charles (University of Iowa).
Since 2019, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi has been developing a new training program called “artist coaching”, meant to help young artists link their artistic ideas with the actual production of their works, in terms of finance and logistics.
Since 2000, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi has been the director of the Ensemble de Musique Interactive (EMI), a group of musicians in variable numbers. He is the founder of this ensemble, whose main goal is to produce their works. EMI performs in France and around the world, notably by distributing many works by pioneers of interactive music. Since 2009, EMI has been supported by the Ministry of Culture (DRAC Bourgogne-Franche-Comté).
Since 2014, he has been the founder and leader of the Ariane# project, which is also financed by the Ministry of Culture. He is in charge of the pedagogical programming of the government policy for artistic and cultural education linked to new technologies.
From 2013 to 2015, he was a consultant/expert for the HAVAS society’s office in Paris and in Shanghai, for the evaluation and analysis of artistic projects and events. These projects are the subject of a confidentiality clause.
In 2003, 2004 and 2005, he was a part of the steering committee of Ars Numerica, where he worked with internationally acknowledged French university professors, researchers and artists, for the conception of this project.
In 2004, he was a musical consultant in the artistic direction of the Milano Musica festival in Italy. His main mission was to make the artistic direction team grow and find private sponsoring.
From 2002 to 2004, he was a musical consultant for the RCS-Pubblicità (Rizzoli Corriere della Sera) in Milan. His mission was to study the feasibility of Milan’s musical projects: Orchestra Verdi, Festa della musica, private concerts, conventions.
In 2001, he created the research and production collective PRISMA with other artists, which he has been coordinating since its creation. He acts as leader of international meetings, communication coordinator, publications’ leader, coordinator of international communication with festivals, universities, research and production centers, conservatories, etc. This collective is a network of composers based in Europe, the United States, Canada, Chile, Argentina and China, as well as a network of institutions that can host production projects. Among these institutions are IRCAM and GRM in Paris, the Orchestra Utopica in Lisbon and the Estoril Film Festival (Portugal), the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre in Hong Kong (China), Columbia University and Harvard University (USA), ZiMT in Vienna (Austria), Sibelius Academy in Helsinki (Finland), University of Plymouth (UK), University of Manitoba (Canada).
In 1999, at Luciano Berio’s suggestion, he created the pedagogy department at the Centro Tempo Reale in Florence, which he directed from 1999 to 2005. In Tempo Reale, Baboni Schilingi developed many musical initiations programs that rely on the use of new technologies. These programs have been used by various Italian schools, in Florence, Milan, Siena and Rome. This mission requires him to gather the financing needed for the different activities and to create contact with young audiences. Jacopo Baboni Schilingi fulfills his mission by working with the Lombardy, Latium and Tuscany regions, through private and public financing. The same year, he was tasked with finding European financing to allow the teams to function, as well as raising funds for the production of research on music informatics. He was also involved in teaching both younger audiences and people who studied in conservatories.
From 1999 to 2017, he was teaching musical computing and epistemological analysis of contemporary music at the INA-GRM.
From 1999 to 2004, he was in charge of the classes and workshops on epistemological analysis of contemporary music at the 20th-century Music and Musicology Department at the Sorbonne University.
In 1998, he created the Anomos association with Emanuele Quinz. Anomos is a research, training and artistic direction that explores the new configurations of contemporary creation, especially in regard to the impact of digital technologies. In December 2004, Anomos worked with Centre Pompidou for the sixth series of the « Face au Présent » multidisciplinary meetings, which aim to explore the new tendencies in contemporary creation influenced by digital technologies.
10Sponsors And Patrons
In 1997, Laurent Bayle, then director of IRCAM, and a team of communication specialists, began training Jacopo Baboni Schilingi so he could organize meetings to discuss the democratization of contemporary music. After that training period, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi attended several symposiums and conferences dedicated to the search for sponsors for IRCAM.
From 1999 to 2005, at Luciano Berio’s suggestion, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi received the support of four banking foundations: CARIPLO, Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, Monte dei Paschi di Siena. These foundations finance the pedagogical and artistic activities of the Centro Tempo Reale.
In 2012, after a meeting with several private sponsors and benefactors, during the Festival A-Part in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi designed a new development model for artistic and industrial innovation named P.I.A.T.I. (Production Innovation — Art Technologie Interactivité). The presence of all these benefactors is their interest in this new art form from the 20th and early 21st centuries, known as “digital art”: interactive or generative installations, performances with laptops and pads, tablet computers, neural networks, artificial intelligence, applied robotics, nanotechnologies, etc.
Between an “American” type of system, in which support to the art sector mainly comes from the private sector, and a “French” type of system, in which cultural activities are supported mainly by government bodies, Baboni Schilingi offers a new development model for technological innovation, for the mutual benefits of big companies looking for innovative artistic projects and artists looking for resources for their own creative projects.
Thanks to this model, in 2013, Hermès was able to commission multimedia artist Miguel Chevalier and Jacopo Baboni Schilingi for an interactive installation. This installation, named “8-ties”, was taken on a tour around the world, from Paris to Shanghai, visiting 20 cultural capitals such as London, Madrid, Milan, Hong Kong, Seattle, Miami, Dubai, Tokyo, Mumbai, Beijing, etc.
In 2014, South Korean company Samsung commissioned Miguel Chevalier and Jacopo Baboni Schilingi for an interactive installation, “The origin of the curve”, which was exhibited in the Samsung pavilion in the IFA Berlin.
From 2015 to 2018, the Camille Fournet Paris company signed a three-year convention as a main benefactor for all of Baboni Schilingi’s projects.
From 2018 to 2020, CHANEL commissioned Jacopo Baboni Schilingi to write his fifth string quartet (titled N.5), which was welcomed by various residencies, a monographic concert and a monographic installation at the CHANEL Nexus Hall in Tokyo.
In 2026, Arlequin AI became a patron of Jacopo Baboni Schilingi’s work, committing its support to the full scope of his projects throughout 2026, 2027 and 2028.