SUMMIT PARTICIPANTS
MAYA ACKERMAN – online from Palo Alto, CA
Maya Ackerman is a pioneer in generative AI, serving as the CEO and co-founder of WaveAI, a trailblazing startup revolutionizing music creation. She is also an Associate Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at Santa Clara University. Maya has devoted her career to the study and advancement of human-machine creative collaboration, with an emphasis on elevating human musical expression through AI. Named “Woman of Influence” by the Silicon Valley Business Journal, interviews with Ackerman appear on NBC News, New Scientist, NPR, Grammy.com, SiriusXM and international television stations across the globe. She got her PhD from the University of Waterloo, and completed her postdoctoral fellowships at Caltech and UC San Diego. Maya’s work is inspired in part through her own musicianship as a singer, pianist, and songwriter. Summit Program >
ALAIN BARKER
Alain Barker has an entrepreneurial career that includes arts organization development, arts policy research, communications and marketing, teaching and performance. In 2014, he was appointed director of entrepreneurship and career development at the IU Jacobs School of Music. Before then, he directed the Jacobs School’s marketing and publicity operations. Barker was executive director of the Bloomington Early Music Festival from 1994-2004 and has worked as a consultant to not-for-profits. He serves on several boards and commissions. Summit Program >
DAVID CRANDALL
David Crandall is Professor of Computer Science at the IU Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. He’s also Director of Luddy Artificial Intelligence Center. His main research interest is computer vision, the area of computer science that tries to design algorithms that can “see”. Crandall received the Ph.D. in computer science from Cornell University in 2008 and the M.S. and B.S. degrees in computer science and engineering from the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, in 2001. He worked as a postdoctoral associate at Cornell from 2008-2010, and as a research scientist at Eastman Kodak Company from 2001-2003. Summit Program >
ROGER DANNENBURG – online from Baltimore
Roger B. Dannenberg is Emeritus Professor of Computer Science, Art & Music. He received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University and is a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, known for his research in the field of computer music. He is the co-creator of Audacity, an audio editor that has been downloaded 100’s of millions of times, and his patents for Computer Accompaniment were the basis for the SmartMusic system used by hundreds of thousands of music students. His current work includes live music performance with artificial computer musicians, automatic music composition, interactive media and high-level languages for sound synthesis. Prof. Dannenberg is also a trumpet player and composer. He has performed in concert halls ranging from the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem to the modern Espace de Projection at IRCAM in Paris. Besides numerous compositions for musicians and interactive electronics, Dannenberg co-composed the opera La Mare dels Peixos with Jorge Sastre, and translated and produced the opera in English as The Mother of Fishes, in Pittsburgh in 2020. Summit Program >
DANI DEAHL
As a prominent figure in music, Dani Deahl has been at the forefront of artist discovery and meaningful industry change for over a decade. Aside from being a DJ and producer, she covered the intersection of music, technology and policy for The Verge and hosted The Verge’s YouTube series “The Future of Music,” which features stars like Charli XCX, Steve Aoki and Oak Felder, producer for Kehlani and Demi Lovato. Additionally, Dani is currently the Vice President for the Recording Academy, Chicago chapter. As an artist herself, Dani has released on labels like Dim Mak, Monstercat, Flamingo, Cr2 and Armada. She’s a prominent expert on the topics of marketing for musicians and music technology, with engagements at TEDx, Oberlin College, Miami Music Week, Movement Festival, Ableton Loop, Red Bull Hack The Hits, an official Twitter Music Q&A, Billboard Live Music Summit and more. Summit Program >
REBECCA FIEBRINK – online from London, England
Rebecca Fiebrink is Professor of Creative Computing at University of the Arts London. Her teaching and research focus largely on how machine learning and AI can change human creative practices. Fiebrink is the developer of the Wekinator creative machine learning software, which is used around the world by musicians, artists, game designers, and educators. She is the creator of the world’s first online class about machine learning for musicians and artists. Much of her work is driven by a belief in the importance of inclusion, participation, and accessibility: she works frequently with human-centred and participatory design processes, and she is currently working on projects related to creating new accessible technologies with people with disabilities, designing inclusive machine learning curricula and tools, and applying machine learning to revealing and countering bias in art collections in a project led by the UAL Decolonising Art Institute. Prof. Fiebrink previously taught at Goldsmiths University of London and Princeton University, and she has worked with companies including Microsoft, Smule, and Imagine Research. She holds a PhD in Computer Science from Princeton University. Summit Program >
RUSS GAVIN – online from Palo Alto, CA
Russ Gavin serves as Cofounder/COO of JackTrip Labs, Director of Bands at Stanford University, and CEO of the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps. A lifelong advocate for accessible music education, Dr. Gavin has taught music in K-12 and collegiate environments, continuously seeking and creating opportunities to utilize technology in the music classroom. He holds a Ph.D. in Music Education from Florida State University, a Master of Music in Music Performance from the University of Notre Dame, and a Bachelor of Music Education from Auburn University. His research publications have appeared in the Journal of Research in Music Education, the International Journal of Music Education, Psychology of Music, the Journal of Music Teacher Education, and the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. Summit Program >
SHANNON HAYDEN
Innovative performer Shannon Hayden has carved a distinctive niche in the music world, touring globally for over a decade with her unique setup: a 19th-century cello enhanced by modern amplification and electronic modifications. Her sound, deeply rooted in classical music, has been equally shaped by a lifelong passion for experimental soundscapes. Raised on an off-grid farm, she defies musical norms, blending ethereal vocals and intricate strings. Trained by legends like Starker and Parisot, her music fuses analog warmth with digital edge, offering audiences a transformative, groundbreaking experience. Summit Program >
MATT HENNINGER – online from Michigan
Matt Henninger (VP, Business Development & Sales at Music.ai) has over 18+ years of experience building, launching, and licensing music services across all aspects of the music ecosystem. In addition to having run BD and Sales Orgs for Audible Magic, SOCAN’s Dataclef, MediaNet, Rovi, and All Media Guide, Matt started his career as a professional bassist, performing 200+ shows a year in the greater Detroit area. Summit Program >
RORY KENNY – online from Berlin, Germany
Rory Kenny is the Co-Founder and CEO of Loudly, a leading AI Music co-creation platform empowering a new generation of creators to make, customize and release music on their own terms. In recognition of the huge impact AI will have on creative industries, he believes in a radically responsible implementation of AI technology which equally protects copyright, artists and audiences. Summit Program >
MARSHALL LEAFFER
Marshall Leaffer is Professor of Law at Indiana University, Maurer School of Law. At Indiana since 1997, Leaffer teaches Copyright Law, Trademark Law, Intellectual Property Survey, and International Intellectual Property. He is the author of three books and numerous articles, including the best-selling treatise, Understanding Copyright Law, now in its 8th edition. Leaffer is also the author of Copyright Law: Cases and Materials, 10th edition and International Treaties on Intellectual Property, 2d edition. His current research focuses on the interplay of intellectual property law in a global marketplace. Before becoming a full-time teacher, he practiced trademark law with American Home Products Corp. and the firm of Haseltine Lake & Waters in New York. He also has served as attorney-advisor to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Copyright Office. Leaffer is a popular speaker in both the United States and Europe on all areas of intellectual property law and has been honored as both a scholar and lecturer. He currently serves on the international executive committee of the Association Littéraire et Artistique Internationale, a non-governmental institution based in Paris, that promotes the rights of authors worldwide. Summit Program >
MIRIAM LORD
Miriam Lord is the Associate Register of Copyrights and Director of Public Information and Education for the United States Copyright Office. She is an expert copyright attorney and one of four legal advisors to the Register of Copyrights. Before joining the Office, Lord was the director of the Global Intellectual Property Academy at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She has also served as co-lead of the U.S. Department of Commerce Equity Council’s Gender Committee. Previously, she was the director of the Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and the founding administrator of the PA Patent pro bono program to provide under-resourced inventors, artists, startups, and creative nonprofits with legal assistance. Lord earned a JD from Villanova University School of Law, where she was a member of the Villanova Environmental Law Journal. She has an undergraduate degree in the design field from Colorado State University.
MICHAEL MATTIOLI
Michael Mattioli is Professor of Law and Louis F. Niezer Faculty Fellow at the IU Maurer School of Law. His research examines cooperative challenges concerning technology and public policy. Mattioli’s scholarship asks how information-sharing can make society healthier, safer, and more prosperous. Through this lens, Mattioli has examined how public policy is shaping “Big Data” technologies that relate to health and public infrastructure. He shows that law and policy—from intellectual property, to antitrust, to privacy—can lead such endeavors to success or failure. Mattioli has co-edited a book on Big Data (Big Data Is Not a Monolith, MIT Press 2016), he has authored numerous academic articles and essays in leading law reviews, and he has written book chapters that examine patent pools, and the promise and perils of data sharing. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Tufts University, Mattioli has held fellowship appointments at Berkeley Law and Michigan Law. Before attending law school, he worked as a microchip designer. Summit Program >
CHRIS MCMURTRY
Chris McMurtry is the Vice President of Product at Artist Growth where he leverages more than 15 years of experience as a leader in the music technology space, and deep industry knowledge as an accomplished composer and musician. Prior to Artist Growth Chris served as the Vice President of Product at Pex and Head of RME. Using technology to provide the creator economy with fair and transparent licensing is a consistent thread throughout his career. Chris is also a multi-platinum recording artist with 26 albums to his credit. He holds a degree in classical music composition from Middle Tennessee State University and is an avid writer, having composed over 600 songs. Summit Program >
ROBERT MEITUS
Meitus Gelbert Rose LLP
Robert Meitus is the managing partner of Meitus Gelbert Rose LLP, responsible for entertainment, media, and intellectual property law matters for many international clients, including music artists, record labels, filmmakers, and authors. Music clients include Cage the Elephant, Sufjan Stevens, the John Prine estate, Shawn Colvin, Joshua Bell, The Alan Parsons Project, and Third Eye Blind. Meitus is an adjunct professor of law at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law and received his J.D. from Maurer, his masters of international affairs from Columbia University, and his B.A. from Wabash College. Meitus is a Grammy voting member and was named a top music lawyer of 2023 by Billboard. He also co-founded the livestreaming company Mandolin in 2020, is producer of the Kennedy documentary series on the History Channel, manages singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer, and has been a lifelong musician in various groups. Summit Program >
JORDAN MUNSON
Jordan Munson is a composer, performer, and multimedia artist. His work explores memory and our relationship to technology and is said to “merge acoustic melody and electronic rhythm with thrilling purpose” (The New York Times). Drawing from backgrounds in formal percussion performance studies, improvisation, pop, and sound design, his compositions juxtapose subtle landscapes of richly layered textures with driving melodic arrivals. His album Until My Last (New Amsterdam Records) was featured in The New York Times and on Wilco’s list of best albums from 2018. Hi most recent album Heartless Fools was released in January 2024 on Church of Noise Records. Summit Program >
SAM WATKINSON
Sam has dedicated his career to harmonizing the technical with the creative. A lifelong musician, his journey in music has ranged from composing soundtracks for offbeat events at MIT, to creating immersive audio experiences for escape rooms and video games. With over a decade of experience in early-stage technology startups, most recently as Director of Engineering for Zeus Living (YC S11), Sam has developed a deep understanding of the intricacies of tech innovation and leadership. His passion for music and technology converged with the founding of WavTool, born from a lifetime of engaging with music software and envisioning its evolution. At WavTool, he and his team are on a mission to seamlessly integrate AI into the creative process, empowering artists rather than supplanting them. Sam is deeply committed to pioneering AI solutions that augment and accelerate human creativity, believing firmly in technology’s role as a catalyst for artistic expression. Summit Program >
MEGH VAKHARIA – online
Megh Vakharia is a creative technologist and entrepreneur focused on building culture-shifting tools for the next generation of artists, creators, and the entertainment industry-at-large. Based in Los Angeles, Megh’s latest venture involves SymphonyOS – a platform utilizing AI to combine data and automate audience targeting while generating views, streams, and subscribers in novel ways. He also spearheaded product & data strategy as Co-Founder & CTO of Integral Studio – one of the music industry’s leading marketing agencies, collaborating with every major label and artists of all sizes. To date, Integral has supported projects that have led to four GRAMMY-nominated albums and over a dozen Platinum-selling records including helping artists like SZA, Travis Scott, Future, Childish Gambino, and more. Prior to Integral and SymphonyOS, he was at Hulu on the Personalization and App Experiences team as well as the Engineering team at Sears Holdings Corporation. Megh graduated from University of Washington with a degree in Informatics: Human-Computer Interaction. Summit Program >
JOANNA WORONKOVICZ
Dr. Joanna Woronkowicz is a cultural economist who conducts research on artist labor markets and cultural facilities investments. She joined O’Neill in 2013, and prior to that served as the senior research officer at the National Endowment for the Arts. Woronkowicz is co-founder and faculty director of the Center for Cultural Affairs and co-director of the Arts, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Lab. Her first book Building Better Arts Facilities was published by Routledge in 2015. She is currently working on a book manuscript on Being an Artist in America under contract with Stanford University Press. Summit Program >
CALEB WEINTRAUB
Caleb Weintraub is an Associate Professor, Area Head of Painting, and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture, and Design at Indiana University. His artwork combines technological and traditional processes, using painting as a means of exploring memory, imagination, and the encoding of experience. Weintraub is currently engaged in two ongoing projects: “Unplain Air: Notes from a Portable Forest,” which redefines plein-air landscape painting through immersive technology, and “A Golem in the Garret,” a series of paintings that reflect on the role of AI in the creative process. His work has been exhibited at venues such as Fredericks & Freiser in New York, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery in Chicago, and the International Museum of Art and Science in Texas, and featured in publications such as New American Paintings, “Signs of the Apocalypse/Rapture” by Front Forty Press, and Juxtapoz Magazine. As a recent fellow of IU’s Institute for Digital Arts and Humanities, Weintraub presented his research on integrating AI into studio practice at conferences in the US and abroad. He co-convenes the “Creativity in the Age of AI” summit, co-developed and co-taught the course “AI in the Studio” in 2023, and is co-convening IU’s 2024 TBS Symposium on ‘Intelligence’, promoting interdisciplinary dialogue on intelligence, broadly interpreted. Summit Program >
JASON WILBER
Jason Wilber has worked in the music industry for over 3 decades. He was John Prine’s lead guitarist and musical director for 24 years, contributing to one Grammy award winning album and several Grammy nominated albums. Since 2020, Jason has been advising and investing in technology startups. He spent two and a half years as Director of Sales and Production Lead at a music software company, and recently co-founded CoordN8, to develop innovative technology for music creators.
TRISTRA NEWYEAR YEAGER
Tristra is Chief Strategy Officer at rock paper scissors, the music innovation PR agency, as well as co-host of the Music Tectonics podcast. An experienced writer and PR strategy generator, she has two decades of experience working across a broad range of industries and a doctorate that dealt with the history of the performing arts in Siberia and Mongolia. She’s passionate about cross-cultural stories, sounds from all over, and insights into tech, science, and society. That passion has translated into thousands of media placements for clients, including in major publications around the world. She loves writing stuff so much, she also does it in her spare time. Summit Program >
MEGAN YOUNG
Megan Young is a transdisciplinary artist exploring how her queer femme body is perceived and dissected by contemporary surveillance systems. She presents experimental animations and immersive installations through venues including the International Symposium on Electronic Art (Hong Kong), Open Engagement (Chicago), MOCO: Movement + Computing (Vancouver), Art Souterrain (Montreal), SPACES (Cleveland), and the Ammerman Center for Art + Technology at Connecticut College. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Hyperallergic, The Atlantic, and on NPR. Additional recognition includes a Knight Foundation technology grant, CEC ArtsLink Art Prospect residency in Armenia, Chicago Cultural Center residency, and an AI Research Fellowship through Indiana University’s Eskenazi School, where she serves as Lecturer and Digital Art Area Head. Young holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art & Media from Columbia College Chicago and a BFA in Dance Composition from Ohio University. Summit Program >