Giusy Caruso
Giusy Caruso, pianist & artist-researcher
Giusy Caruso is an Italian-born concert pianist, researcher and philosopher based in Brussels. Known as a contemporary music performer and artist-researcher..[1], her work is situated at the intersection of performance studies, embodied music cognition, philosophy, oriental music tradition and advanced technology[2]. She explores the interaction between human performance and digital systems, and creates new forms of phygital performance[3]. Caruso is the first performer playing PianoPhase by Steve Reich in duo with her avatar in the metaverse[4] and the entire 72 Etudes Karnatiques pour piano (3-hour long piece) by the French composer Jacques Charpentier in a concert marathon[5]. Postdoctoral researcher in Performing Arts: Music, she is the chair of the research group CREATION at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp in Belgium, where she also holds the workshop Mirroring Creative Lab for music performance analysis and creation.
Career and Research
As a classical pianist, Caruso performs a wide range of repertoire, from classical to contemporary[6], and she is known for her integration of technology into performance analysis and creation. Her concerts have been presented in venues across Europe, Asia, Russia, USA and South America. As an artist-researcher, her performance formats often integrate live piano, motion capture, haptic sensors, and digital visualization tools, creating hybrid phygital experiences that challenge traditional concert formats and expand the expressive potential of live music performance[7]. She has collaborated with artists across disciplines - Atau Tanaka, CREW, Jacques Charpentier, Davide Anzaghi. She gives lectures, seminars and masterclasses at performing arts institutions - IPEM-University Ghent, iMAL Brussels, Goldsmiths University London, IRCAM Paris, Manhattan School New York, Columbia University, Queen College - focussing on artistic research methodology and music performance analysis, and on the transversal experimentation between arts, science and technology.
The concept of Caruso's XR performance MetaPhase: A contrapuntal dialogue between a pianist and her avatar in the metaverse was exhibited at CREMONA MUSIC FESTIVAL - INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION 2022. This performance is capable to lead the audience towards a future of spaces and forms unknown to classical concerts.(Angelo Foletto – REPUBBLICA, 2022).
Her research work integrates artistic and scientific research through immersive and synaesthetic experiences, including participatory practices and a focus on wellbeing, accessibility, inclusion, and gender-based violence.
Caruso is one of the pianists performing Allora & Calzadilla's installation "Stop, Repair, Prepare: Variations on Ode to Joy for a Prepared Piano" (2008) at the Argos Center for Art and Media in 2011. This performance features a pianist playing a modified grand piano with a hole in the soundboards, upside down and backward, while moving it.
Awards and Recognitions
- 2023. S+T+ARTS Prize - Honorary Mention for the project MetaPhase: A contrapuntal dialogue between a pianist and her avatar in the metaverse (in collaboration with the technological partner LWT3 Srl Milano) awarded by the European Commission and Ars Electronica Linz with this statement: This is one of the fantastic projects that impressed the jury with its remarkable artistic approach and accomplished innovative exploration.[8]
- 2009. IBLA Grand Prize Special Mention for the interpretation of Olivier Messiaen's Huit Preludes.
Publications
Caruso's artistic research explores human-machine interaction, biomechanics of musical gesture, and synesthetic performance environments. sensors, virtual reality, and digital avatars.
Book
In 2022, Caruso published in Italy La Ricerca Artistica Musicale. Linguaggi e Metodi, a book examining the conceptual frameworks, methods and languages of artistic research in music performance practice, with a special link in technology. The work has been recognized as the first contribution to the field of artistic research.[9][10]
Articles[11] (selection)
- Caruso, G. (2025). XR Music Performance – A Phygital Piano Duet in the Metaverse. Journal of Artistic Research. (open access)
- Caruso, G. (2024). Biofeedback Technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Music Performance Analysis and Creation: Insights from an Artistic Practice as Research. ANALITICA (open access )
- Caruso, G. (2023). The “Mirroring” Method: A Case Study to Enhance the Nexus between Music Performance Practice and Artistic Research in Higher Music Education at European Conservatories. Itamar, revista de investigación musical: territorios para el arte, 9, 1, pp. 74–187.
- Caruso, G. and Nijs, L. (2021) When Arts and Science Meet, in Journal of Music, Technology (JMTE), Volume 13, Numbers 2–3, pp. 117-140(24).
- Caruso, G. (2021). Una proposta di analisi performativa: intorno alle voci del compositore e del performer che svolge la propria pratica artistica come ricerca. RIVISTA DI ANALISI E TEORIA MUSICALE, ANNO 2021/1, pp. 155–192.
- Caruso, G. (2019). Un’indagine analitico-performativa sui 72 Studi Carnatici per pianoforte di Jacques Charpentier (1933–2017). RIVISTA DI ANALISI E TEORIA MUSICALE, 25(2), 91–137.
- Caruso, G., Coorevits, E., Nijs, L. & Leman, M. (2016). Gestures In Contemporary Music Performance: A Method To Assist The Performer's Artistic Process. In Contemporary Music Review, Volume 35, Issue 4-5: Gesture-Technology Interactions in Contemporary Music, pp. 402–422.
Projects and Performances (selection)
Caruso's performances include XR immersive multimedia works and multidisciplinary projects that combine music with visual art, architecture, dance and oriental music and traditions.
- Dal Silenzio a un Nuovo Mondo Sonoro, 2026
- Viaggio al Centro del Suono, 2023
- DANTEUM Immersive Performance with CREW Brussels, 2023
- MetaPhase: A contrapuntal dialogue between a pianist and her avatar in the metaverse with LWT3, 2022
- SUSPENSIONS by composer Atau Tanaka, 2021
- IN-TENSIONS by composer Umut Eldem, 2021
- RE-ORIENT Project, 2016
- "Stop, Repair, Prepare: Variations on Ode to Joy" by visual artists Allora & Calzadilla, 2011
Discography (selection)
- 2021 Franz Liszt Piano Works, remastering, Halidon Music
- 2020 Davide Anzaghi - Piano Works, Da Vinci Classics
- 2018 Jacques Charpentier - 72 Etudes Karnatiques pour piano, Centaur Records[12]
- 2014 Scelsi, Anzaghi, Putignano Piano works, TACTUS[13]
Broadcastings
Caruso has appeared on radio and television programs, including RAI DUE, RAI TRE, RAI Radio3, SAT 2000, Radio Central Antwerp, Radio della Svizzera Italiana, Teleuropa Network.
Biography and education
Giusy Caruso was born in Cosenza, Calabria, Italy. She began her musical training in classical piano obtaining her master's degree in piano soloist cum laude at Conservatorio di Musica Fausto Torrefranca (Vibo Valentia) and later expanded her academic studies obtaining in 1999 a Master in Philosophy cum laude at University of Calabria and in 2018 a PhD in Arts: Music Performance at the School of Arts of Ghent - KASK (Ghent University IPEM and Royal Conservatoire of Ghent). She also obtained a Master in Piano Soloist in 2003 at CODARTS, Rotterdam Conservatoire, followed by a Post-Master's degree in Contemporary Music at the Royal Conservatoire Ghent in 2013, both with highest distinction.
References
- ↑ Mosca, Maria Paola (2026-01-19). "Blog | Giusy Caruso: la pianista e ricercatrice musicale che duetta con l'Ai". Alley Oop (in italiano). Retrieved 2026-04-22.
- ↑ Corriere TV: https://video.corriere.it/roma/giusy-caruso-la-pianista-ricercatrice-che-suona-con-il-corpo-e-duetta-con-il-suo-avatar/46ec7c94-d313-4606-8a5b-cfc3a4706xlk
- ↑ "Performance 'figitali': Quando la musica classica incontra l'IA". 22 September 2024.
- ↑ "La prima pianista al mondo nel metaverso è italiana e suona Steve Reich". La Voce di New York. 2022-10-08. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
- ↑ "La pianista Giusy Caruso esegue in prima assoluta l'integrale dei 72 Études Karnatiques di Jacques Charpentier in tre ore di concerto a Carcassonne". criticaclassica (in italiano). 2016-11-30. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
- ↑ "Giusy Caruso, una pianista contemporanea tra Occidente e Oriente". MusicVoice.it (in italiano). 2017-05-02. Retrieved 2026-04-27.
- ↑ "PIANOFORTE E FUTURO -". itabloid.it (in italiano). 2026-02-12. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
- ↑ Verweij, W. "Giusy Caruso, MetaPhase".
- ↑ Torretta, Alma. "Musicista Ricercatore, il manuale di Giusy Caruso". Il Giornale della Musica (in italiano). Retrieved 2026-04-22.
- ↑ "La musica contemporanea tra sperimentazione ed espressione artistica". MusicVoice.it (in italiano). 2023-06-27. Retrieved 2026-04-27.
- ↑ List of publications available on www.giusycaruso.com. 17 January 2013. Search this book on
- ↑ "Review by Jed Distler". www.classicstoday.com. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
- ↑ Bol (https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/p/giusy-caruso-opere-per-piano-forte/9200000064236081/). "Bol Review". Retrieved https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/p/giusy-caruso-opere-per-piano-forte/9200000064236081/. Check date values in:
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