The institute was founded at Utrecht University in 1960 as the Studio for Electronic Music (STEM), as a successor to the former studio for electronic music at Philips' NatLabinEindhoven. In 1964, Gottfried Michael Koenig became the studio's artistic director. The studio grew under Koenig's leadership, and in 1966 an annual international electronic music course was founded which exists to this day.[1]
In 1967 STEM was renamed as the "Institute of Sonology". International attention increased in 1971 with the purchase of a PDP-15minicomputer which was used to develop programs for algorithmic composition and digital sound synthesis.[2] During the early years of the institute, a series of landmark programs were developed there, including Koenig's Project 1, Project 2,[3] and SSP,[4]Paul Berg's PILE,[5] Werner Kaegi's MIDIM/VOSIM,[6] and Barry Truax's POD.[7] In 1971 the Brazilian composer Jorge Antunes, a precursor of electronic music in his country, was a student at the Institute where he composed the work "Para Nascer Aqui".
Current research focuses on algorithmic composition, live electronic music, historical reconstructions of electronic and computer music (including György Ligeti's Pièce électronique Nr. 3 and Edgard Varèse's Poème électronique), field recording, sound installations, and sound spatialization.[9] Alongside the annual one-year course, the institute offers bachelor's and master's degrees in Sonology.
The remnants of the Institute of Sonology's PDP-15 minicomputer on display
^Sani, N. and Bernardini, N. (1987), "1986 International Computer Music Conference, Den Haag: Review in Two Parts", Perspectives of New Music, 25 (1/2): 618–637
^Tazelaar, K. (2009), "Special Section Introduction: The Institute of Sonology", Leonardo Music Journal, 19: 69–70
