Keith Lay: Optimism for AI-Assisted Music Composition – 7/14/2026 | CC Monthly Presentations

"Optimism for AI-Assisted Music Composition” is a recent post to Keith's substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/klisten... It's a good idea to read it before watching the presentation. This is likely the first of many special presentations concerning how AI is influencing music composition. Bio: Raised in rural Ohio, Keith Lay acquired a Master's in Music Composition from the University of Akron under David S. Bernstein [co-founder of Cascadia Composers] and, later, a Master’s in Educational Media Design from Full Sail University. In addition, Mr. Lay has earned certifications to teach Deep Listening® under Pauline Oliveros at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Coherence Advantage training from the HeartMath Institute. Keith left a commercial music production career to join Full Sail University in Florida as a Synclavier expert in 1990 where he thrived 30 years as an educator and leader. Gramophone Magazine called his paean to the environment, “Earth Caoine,” recorded by Richard Stoltzman, “unapologetically emotional.” Hailed as "a composer to watch for" by the New York Times for his internationally award-winning violin concerto and called "Orlando's most inventive composer" by the Orlando Weekly, Lay feels that his role as an artist is to give create life-affirming music experiences that connect hearts, minds, bodies and spirit to our nature: inner- and outer-. At home with technology, Keith developed a massively-multiplayer, outdoor concert-environment he calls Distance Music using radio telemetry, geometry, and the speed of sound to create music that reconstructs itself differently at every listener's location. Current projects include “Tree-Voice” a real-time data musical sonification of living forests. This presentation is part of a monthly series by members of Cascadia Composers. They are typically held (starting in the fall of 2023) the second Tuesday of every month. For more information, please see https://cascadiacomposers.org If you'd like to support Cascadia, please see https://www.cascadiacomposers.org/donate