The Female Laptop Orchestra — ensemble, performers and collaborators
Female Laptop Orchestra (FLO) is a globally distributed telematic ensemble connecting female musicians, artists and scientists across continents, political boundaries, language and culture through collaborative music creation.
Each FLO performance is site-specific and performer-dependent, mixing location-based field recordings, live coding, acoustic instruments, voice, sound synthesis and real-time sound processing using Web Audio APIs and VR environments, with audio streams arriving from different global locations via the internet and mobile networks. From stereo to immersive 3D audio and everything in between, FLO pushes the boundaries of technology and experimentation within the context of ensemble improvisation and telematic collaboration.
Since 2014, FLO has performed and collaborated with musicians, artists and researchers across Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Australia. Below you will find the full list of FLO performers and collaborators from 2014 to the present.
FLO performers & collaborators 2014 – present
Nela Brown (founder and creative director of FLO) is an award-winning sound artist, technologist, researcher and lecturer with a background in classical music, jazz, sonic arts, engineering and human-computer interaction. In the past decade, she composed music and designed sound for award-winning international projects including theatre performances, dance, mobile, film, documentaries and interactive installations. From 2011-2016 she was the Chair of G.Hack (an arts & technology lab for female researchers at QMUL), and from 2011-2012 she was the Chair of WISE@QMUL (Women in Science and Engineering Society). From 2013-2019 she was part of the BCSWomen Committee. In 2013 she received a prestigious Highly Commended WISE Leader Award from HRH The Princess Royal. In 2014 she was profiled as part of the British Computer Society national Women in IT Campaign and started the Female Laptop Orchestra project. Nela is a founder member of the Association of Sound Designers (UK) and OISTAT Sound Design Group, and regularly speaks at symposiums, conferences and technology events on topics related to sound design, co-located and distributed collaborative music making and hack culture. She holds a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction from the University of Greenwich, London. Website
Magdalena Chudy is a researcher, music technologist, computer scientist and cellist. She holds a PhD in electronic engineering from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL/C4DM) and also has an MSc in computer science and MA in performance. Her research has focused on player-dependent aspects of musical timbre, with a particular interest in exploring the relationship between instrumental gesture, tone quality and perception in classical cello performance. Her current artistic practice includes live improvisation and sound processing in search of new sonic experiences on the cello. Website
Maria Mannone is a physicist and composer developing interdisciplinary research between mathematics and music. She holds a Master’s in Theoretical Physics and a Master’s in Composition, Conducting and Piano from Italy, a Master 2 ATIAM in Acoustics, Signal Processing and Informatics applied to Music from IRCAM–UPMC Paris 6 Sorbonne, and a PhD in Composition from the University of Minnesota. Her musical compositions have been performed by the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana and at numerous international festivals. She is active as a composer and improviser. Website
Ariane Stolfi is an architect, designer, programmer and musician who transits between languages and disciplines. Doctorate candidate in Sonology at the University of São Paulo (USP) and Master’s graduate in Architecture and Design (FAU-USP), she researches interactive interfaces on web technologies. She has participated in numerous festivals and events internationally and develops interactive installations and performances, maintaining the finetanks.com experimental net label and collaborating with the Sonora feminist collective and the Orquestra Errante free improvising group. Website
Sonia Wilkie is a researcher, sound designer and educational technologist whose current research in human-computer interaction investigates educational technologies and their impact on student engagement and success. Her musical interests range from classical performance on the flute to live coding electronica and digital sonic arts.
Silvia Binda Heiserova is a multimedia artist, researcher and creative coder. She holds a Doctoral Degree in Fine Arts from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and is a founding member of the experimental digital and sound art group Sonic Mal and the founder of offDAC, a multidisciplinary decentralised artistic community dedicated to researching the intersection of feminism, art and technology. Website
Léa Ikkache graduated from the Georgia Tech Music Technology Master’s programme, where she co-founded the Women in Music Tech group. She studied engineering in France and came to the US to incorporate more music into her education. Her research focus is robotic musicianship, interactive music systems and educational technology.
Alayna Hughes is an artist, creative technologist, musician, engineer and producer whose work bridges sound, interactive systems and immersive media. She studied Music Engineering and Drums at Berklee College of Music and earned a Master’s in Music Technology, later studying in the Multimodal Interaction Group at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. She has worked at studios in New York, co-founded Curiosibot SL in Valencia, and has shown work at Sónar, Maker Faire, Linecheck and more. Website
Nalini Singh is a London-based computational artist and creative technologist whose practice explores evolving forms of human-machine interaction, embodiment and mediated identity. Working across interactive installation, generative AI systems and real-time digital environments, she investigates how gesture, presence and agency are translated into technological processes. She holds an MFA in Computational Arts from Goldsmiths, University of London.
María Aguado Yáñez is a physicist and musician working on quantum computing applications in music. She holds a Bachelor’s in Physics from Universidad Complutense de Madrid and a Master’s in Sound and Music Computing from Universitat Pompeu Fabra. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Quantum Computing in the Arts, Music and Humanities at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research, University of Plymouth, and works as a Predoctoral Researcher for Moth Quantum.
Ada Mathea Hoel is a Norwegian noise performer and producer currently researching cross-adaptive processing as a production and composition tool at NTNU Trondheim. She creates software to process vocal, acoustic and electric bass, drum, synthetic sounds and field recordings, focusing on processing and soundscapes in live performance.
Rosario Domingo is a musician and multimedia artist from Valencia working in the area of sound, audiovisual and graphic art. She has carried out artistic residencies for the City Council of València, investigating the relationship between sound and image and the synergies between art and science, and is a flautist and member of several groups in the Valencian Community.
Ethernet Orchestra is an internet-based musical ensemble exploring intercultural improvisation through networked musical performances. The ensemble performs live from Sydney, Australia, Londrina and São Paulo, Brazil, Germany, the USA and the UK, and has released three recorded albums, including the acclaimed Oceans Between Sound through Chilean netlabel Pueblo Nuevo. Website
Robin Whittaker (bio coming soon)
Fumi Tomioka improvises, dances and choreographs, with interests in small emotions and inner conditions that emerge through movement. She studied at Laban Centre in London, completed an MA in Choreography at Middlesex University, and has worked extensively in inclusive dance improvisation. Website
Aki Kawashita has worked in inclusive dance since completing a facilitator training course organised by Muse Company in 2000. She founded Tear Dry Dance Company in 2013 and performs and choreographs with a focus on free movement and workshops for people with disabilities.
Hiromi Hijikata is a rare performer and dancer who uses a simplified electric wheelchair, combining fashion styling with performance. Having overcome significant personal challenges, including disability and social phobia, she now works at the intersection of fashion, performance and disability arts. Website
Franziska Schroeder is a saxophonist, improviser and senior lecturer at the Sonic Arts Research Centre, Belfast. She has performed with many international musicians, including Joan La Barbara, Pauline Oliveros, Stelarc and Evan Parker, and has released multiple CDs and albums.
Tuna Pase is a musician, ethnomusicologist, free improviser and lecturer whose areas of interest include electro-acoustic composition, sound design and sound art. She performs in concerts and festivals across Europe, the United States and the Middle East and teaches at Istanbul Bilgi University. Website
Andrea Bravo is a visual artist, creative technologist and educator specialised in high-impact images. Her transdisciplinary approach combines photography and visual strategies with coding, biosignals and human-computer interaction technologies. She has exhibited and performed at Palais de Tokyo, LOOP Festival Barcelona and Espronceda Center for Art and Culture, among others. Website
Donna Hewitt is a vocalist, electronic music composer, instrument designer, and inventor of the eMic — a sensor-enhanced microphone stand for electronic music performance. Her work has attracted funding from the Australia Council for the Arts, and she has held academic positions at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Queensland University of Technology. Website
ReVerse Butcher is a multidisciplinary artist with focuses in artist’s books, collages, visual art, writing and performance based in Melbourne, Australia. Website
Kylie Supski is a Polish-Australian poet, playwright and spoken word artist concerned with using art to speak out about social, economic and political inequality. She was the winner of the Melbourne Spoken Word Prize in 2016. Website
Susannah Langley is a visual artist whose practice is rooted in experimental drawing, installation and sound, often using conductive material, touch technology and virtual reality to explore ideas of history, memory, movement and space.
Maria Papadomanolaki is a Greek artist working within the fields of sound design for dance and film, networked performances, installation and transmission art. She completed her PhD research on urban sonic perceptual ecologies at CRiSAP, UAL London and is co-founder of SoundCamp. Website
Anna Xambó Ph.D. is a researcher and musician with a background in computer science engineering, digital humanities and digital arts. Her musical practice includes live coding, multichannel spatialization, tangible music and collaborative interfaces. She is the co-founder of Carpal Tunnel Records and Women in Music Tech at Georgia Tech. Website
Ximena Alarcon is a Colombian sound artist and Research Fellow at CRiSAP whose practice-based research focuses on telematic sonic performances and networked environments. She holds a PhD in Music, Technology and Innovation from De Montfort University and was awarded a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship. Website
Liz Dobson is a composer and National Teaching Fellow at the University of Huddersfield with a research background in the social psychology of collaborative creativity and learning within music technology. She is a strong advocate for collaborative learning environments supporting girls and women in music technology and is a director of the Yorkshire Sound Women Network.
Anna Weisling explores the relationship between sound and image and the performance possibilities shared by both. She holds a Master’s in Sonic Arts from Queen’s University Belfast and is pursuing a PhD in Digital Media at Georgia Tech.
Women in Music Tech (WiMT) founded in 2016 is the first student organisation of the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology, aiming to bring more women into the programme and promote music technology to a diverse audience. Website
Agneya Kerure, Jyoti Narang and Takahiko Tsuchiya (Women in Music Tech, Georgia Tech)
Somesh Ganesh is a student at the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology pursuing his Master’s degree in Music Technology. He studied Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering as an undergraduate in India. Most of his work involves digital audio signal processing and music information retrieval. He plays keyboard and is interested in the production of electronic dance music.
Jason Freeman is a Professor of Music at Georgia Tech whose artistic practice and scholarly research focus on using technology to engage diverse audiences in collaborative, experimental and accessible musical experiences.
Zagreb Flute Ensemble – ZAF is the only ensemble of its kind in Croatia, founded in 2012. Uniting experienced performers with young aspiring artists and flute students, ZAF has toured internationally and premiered nine original pieces, collaborating with FLO on projects that combine classical flute performance with electronic and telematic contexts. zaf.website
David Mastikosa is a Bosnian composer born in 1992 whose compositions have been performed internationally across Europe, Japan and the United States. He studied Composition at the Academy of Arts Banja Luka and composes classical, electroacoustic and electronic music as well as music for theatre and film. YouTube
Anja Kavić is a Bosnian film director whose short films have won awards at the Sarajevo Film Festival, Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival, Bristol Film Festival and been screened at Dok Leipzig. She is a graduate of the DocNomads international postgraduate programme.
Shelly Knotts is a Newcastle-based composer, performer and improviser of live electronic, live-coded and network music. Her research interests lie in examining the political practices implicit in collaborative network music performance. She has received commissions and residencies from PRSF and Sound and Music and was part of the Sound and Music New Voices scheme. Website
Andrea Young is a composer-performer specialising in experimental voice and live electronics, using an amplified, processed and resynthesised voice as her primary instrument. Website
Libertad Figueroa is a Mexican performer and improviser of live-coded music with SuperCollider and a member of the laptop ensemble LiveCodeNet. She has performed at festivals and venues across Mexico and been awarded scholarships for the International Festival of Music and New Technologies Visiones Sonoras. Website
JKPickett is an artist-composer and member of the artists’ collective APO33 whose practice crosses sound sculpture and installation, drawing, video, interactivity and performance. She has collaborated and performed internationally with artists including Keith Rowe, Phil Niblock and Christian Wolff. Website
Annie Mahtani is a composer and sound artist based in Birmingham, a lecturer in electroacoustic composition at the University of Birmingham, and co-director of SOUNDkitchen, a Birmingham-based organisation dedicated to promoting local sound artists and composers. Website