With representatives from theatre, music, orchestral production, and music education, the event began with a roundtable discussion that examined routes to finding a home within a community. Presentations covered a breadth of topics spotlighting current initiatives and relocations in arts organisations; experimental AI in collective practice; festival partnerships; the positioning of the arts within (and by) universities; civic capital in classical music outreach projects; ethics, rights, and regulations in the University of Sheffield鈥檚 Access Folk鈥檚 participant-led research; and preliminary findings from the University鈥檚 research partnership with English National Opera. 

This symposium was the third in an ongoing series of Think Tank events, in which themes emerging from a collaborative PhD project are discussed and interrogated by a diverse range of voices and disciplines. The Think Tank series will continue in 2026 with an event focusing on the theme which was considered the most urgent for further interrogation: community. 

This event was funded by the North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership, part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Thanks also to Creative 野狼社区 for their generous support. 

For more information on the Think Tank series, please email Rebecca.parnell@manchester.ac.uk

One of the highlights was Professor John McAuliffe, Creative 野狼社区鈥檚 Platform Director, taking part in the panel discussion 鈥淐ivic, Creative and Cultural: University Collaboration鈥�. The session brought together members of the , including Professor Kirsty Fairclough (School of Digital Arts, 野狼社区 Metropolitan University), Dr Sam Ingleson (University of Salford) and Professor Wiebke Thorm盲hlen (Royal Northern College of Music). Together, they demonstrated how universities are helping to create a more connected, creative and equitable city-region through strategic partnerships and cultural engagement.

Creative 野狼社区 also invited three PhD students and their supervisors along to BEYOND for their CreaTech Student Research Showcase. The showcase, located among many other exciting product and research demos in the Immersive Futures Lab, featured the students鈥� PhD research and celebrated the University of 野狼社区鈥檚 vibrant postgraduate research community. These projects show how creative technology can tackle real-world challenges across diverse industries:

•  - PhD in Electroacoustic Music Composition
  Stream of Strings explores embodied music cognition, blending cultural heritage with creative technology to create motion-responsive performances and visual works. The project reimagines the ancient Chinese Guqin as an interactive instrument for live performance and public engagement. She is supervised by .

•  - PhD in Electroacoustic Music Composition
  Data Sonification for Algorithm Behaviour uses sonification, the mapping of non-auditory data into sound, to better understand how optimisation algorithms work. This approach advances mathematical research while inspiring educational tools and musical compositions. He is also supervised by Professor Ricardo Climent.

•  - PhD in Computer Science
  ReflectanceFusion is a neural text-to-texture model that generates editable, relightable materials from text prompts. It enables precise control of physical attributes, producing highly accurate textures for rendering and material design. He is supervised by . 

The showcase sparked lively conversations among attendees, with many playing the Guqin virtually via a Leap Motion Controller and others listening to the beats generated by algorithms being solved in real time. Not only did the students get to practise their pitching skills, but they also found partners for onward collaboration and learning. It was great to see how the next generation of researchers and business partners can come together and seize opportunities for R&D.

More content from BEYOND 2025 will be shared soon, but  to get an idea of the atmosphere at this special conference. 

The event, supported by the (IASH) brought together leading experts to explore cutting-edge advancements in AI-driven composition, voice synthesis, and the evolving legal, ethical, and economic landscape of AI-generated music.

His talk explored 30 years of practice-led research, from dataset sonification for composition to disruptive technologies shaping the University of 野狼社区's 鈥� including geolocative tech, game engines, and AI in music 鈥� culminating in works like his concert piece and interactive installation AI Beatboxer (Noh Virtual).

Another highlight of the conference was the UK premi猫re of AI Opera 驰奴谤别颈 (Ghost) 鈥� an immersive Japanese sci-fi opera that captivated a packed audience of 200 attendees. Designed, produced, and directed by , postdoctoral scholar in Intermediality & Digital Humanities at the University of Edinburgh and Lund University, the opera showcased AI鈥檚 potential in reshaping vocal performance and storytelling.

This landmark event underscored the transformative role of artificial intelligence in vocal music, setting the stage for further innovation in the field.