Contemporary musical composition, in its various orientations, is increasingly inclined to integrate into multimedia audiovisual works and projects, both through collaboration among artists with radically different skills and through the progressive convergence – also facilitated by the use of digital technologies – of the competencies of the sound author and the visual author within a single individual.

By multimedia musical creation we mean any work/operation/performance in which a musical and/or sonic layer and a technological visual layer (not necessarily, but typically screen-based) are present. This material configuration gives rise to the wide variety of contemporary audiovisual genres, articulated across multiple domains: narrative cinema, documentary cinema, musical productions for silent film, sound theatre, musical performances accompanied by video projections, video art, installation, music video, television advertising, television programs, web videos (across various platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, etc.), video games, and so forth.

Within this framework, the rich and extensive body of Italian audiovisual creation is particularly worthy of scholarly investigation, especially that which is situated within and around the AFAM (Alta Formazione Artistica e Musicale) network of Conservatories and Institutes of Music.

Both scholars and artists will take part in the discussion of this topic during the conference. The latter are invited to develop a reflection on their creative practice from an explicitly theoretical perspective. A portion of the contributions will also adopt a specific pedagogical focus, addressing the teaching of sound and music in audiovisual contexts across various Italian educational institutions (thus targeting composers, performers, sound designers, school students, and future teachers). Attention will also be devoted to the most recent technological and media developments, ranging from social media to new production techniques and extending to artificial intelligence.
The conference is organized within the framework of the NextGenerationEU project Sounding Images – Screening Sounds (SISS), funded by the European Union through the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research. The project – aimed at fostering the internationalization of the AFAM sector – involves IULM University in partnership with the Trento Conservatory (lead institution), the Lecce Conservatory, and the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Milan (https://sissproject.eu).