Android robot EveR 6 prepares to lead a concert by South Korea's National Orchestra. Photo: National Theater of Korea/Reuters.
In Monday’s (7/3) Classic FM (U.K.), Sophia Alexandra Hall writes, “A robot has become the first of its kind to conduct an orchestra in South Korea, in a high-profile concert hall debut last week. Standing at 1.8 metres tall, the EveR 6 robot led the National Orchestra of Korea in a sold-out performance at the National Theatre of Korea in Seoul on Friday 30 June. The legless automaton was developed by the Korean Institute of Industrial Technology … to test whether ‘robots could replace conductors.’ Equipped with two arms housing ‘wrist’ and ‘elbow’ joints, the machine is able to delicately replicate the baton movements of the human maestro…. The concert, titled ‘Disproof,’ was conducted by both the EverR 6 and a human conductor, Soo-yeol Choi, the artistic director of the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra. Both maestros performed separately, before coming together at the end of the concert to conduct … Composed especially for the event, the piece of music which saw both human and artificial conductors come together was … written by Il-hoon Son…. All the EveR 6’s movements were preprogrammed … The robot also cannot hear and does not use generative artificial intelligence…. ‘Let’s leave the accuracy to the robots,’ Choi [said], ‘but the musical and artistic aspects to a human conductor.’ ”
