Rob Laidlow

Robert’s work involves developing creative tools and methodologies for composers, based on artificial intelligence, and collaborating with leading data scientists in the composition of new research-informed contemporary music.

His artificial intelligence-related work has been commissioned by the Barbican Centre, performed during the University of Salford Research festival and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. His current projects involve training a neural network to write music in his own style, as a collaborative co-composer, and creating an entirely new instrument powered by audio-generative AI. The resultant works from these pieces also aim to explore how music can be used to comment on or inform us about the world around us, which is becoming increasingly reliant on hidden algorithms.

Robert’s works have been performed by groups including the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, the Britten Sinfonia, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Psappha and the Elias Quartet, across the UK, and North and South America. Recently he has been commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society to write for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

His PhD is funded by the NWCDTP and he is supervised by Emily Howard, David de Roure, Marcus du Sautoy and Simon Webb. He completed his undergraduate degree at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and his Master’s degree at the Royal Academy of Music, studying with David Sawer.