Academic curriculum vitae
Egor Polyakov
Postdoctoral Researcher in Computational Musicology · University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar
Computational musicologist, producer, and research software developer, connecting studio practice with analytical methods. My work combines production, mastering, composition, and the artistic-technical realisation of concerts and installations with teaching, project supervision, and computer-assisted music analysis. Practice-based knowledge shapes my research tools and my teaching. I am currently responsible for research and development for the DFG-funded CAMAT project at HfM Weimar.
Practice-to-research trajectory
A map of my professional development
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01
Production
Ableton Live, Logic Pro, and Adobe Audition; mastering; Ambisonics with IRCAM Spat
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02
Composition
Classical and electroacoustic composition, fixed media, live electronics, and multichannel work
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03
Systems
Max/MSP, Max for Live, Pure Data, OpenMusic, analogue and digital hardware, and interactive workflows with sensors and controllers
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04
Realisation
Teaching, project supervision, and the artistic-technical realisation of concerts, installations, and productions
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05
Computation
Python, music encoding, reproducible audio and score analysis, and machine learning
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06
Current research
Practice-informed computational musicology, open research software, and infrastructure
Integrated Competencies
- Production and mastering
- Recording, sound design, and mastering in Ableton Live, Logic Pro, and Adobe Audition; analogue and digital synthesis; studio signal flow and hybrid hardware/software setups; spatial production with Ambisonics and IRCAM Spat
- Composition and artistic practice
- Electroacoustic composition; fixed-media, live-electronic, multichannel, and installation formats; work across contemporary classical and electronic music
- Interactive music systems
- Max/MSP, Max for Live, Pure Data, and OpenMusic (Lisp); real-time audio, live electronics, sensors and controllers, algorithmic composition, and analysis–synthesis workflows
- Concert, installation, and spatial-audio realisation
- Artistic-technical realisation, rehearsal and system setup, live electronics, multichannel and spatial-audio system design and operation, restoration, and stem mastering
- Computational musicology
- Python, MEI/MusicXML, music21, and Verovio; corpus analysis, pattern discovery, and reproducible notebooks
- Audio analysis and AI
- NumPy, SciPy, pandas, scikit-learn, librosa, and PyTorch; timbre, rhythm, structure, embeddings, and generative modelling
- Teaching and studio leadership
- Research-led course design, project supervision, electroacoustic studio coordination, and technical mentoring
- Research leadership and infrastructure
- Grant development, team supervision, open science, Docker, cloud services, and Jupyter4NFDI
Professional Experience
Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar · Weimar
- Research and development for the DFG project Development of a Comprehensive Cloud-Based Toolbox for Music Score Analysis, alongside project head Prof. Dr. Martin Pfleiderer; responsible for scientific conception and research execution. Co-applicant; total funding: €443,458.
- Coordinate the research programme and supervise student assistants across technical and scholarly work packages.
- Develop Python workflows for MEI/MusicXML analysis, extend mei-friend for OMR corpora (musiconn / Denkmäler deutscher Tonkunst), and deliver interactive score workflows through MEI, Verovio, and Jupyter4NFDI.
- Integrate project methods into national research infrastructure and university teaching.
Researcher and Artistic Associate
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig · Leipzig
- Designed and taught courses in electroacoustics, popular and electronic music, computer-assisted analysis, and AI for musicology; supervised electroacoustic composition projects.
- Supported student productions and realisations artistically and technically, from recording and sound processing to live electronics, video, sensors, and controller integration.
- Coordinated the electroacoustic studio and maintained its analogue, digital, and live-electronics infrastructure.
- Realised and supported electronic works for concerts and installations, including rehearsal, system setup, multichannel and spatial-audio playback, restoration, and stem mastering.
- Developed tools spanning synthesis (FFTimbre), visualisation (AudioSpylt), and AI-assisted analysis across multiple repertoires.
Research Associate
University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar · Weimar
- Concurrent with the Researcher and Artistic Associate role at HMT Leipzig.
- Developed and evaluated CAMAT research and teaching pilots with faculty and students, including workshops on computational score analysis.
Career Context
I am married and have two children. Between 2018 and 2022, family responsibilities and COVID-19 restrictions reduced the time available for conference travel and public-facing artistic production. I nevertheless remained professionally active at HMT Leipzig and, from 2021 to 2022, in the CAMAT research appointment at HfM Weimar.
Education
Cumulative Habilitation (in progress)
University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar (HfM Weimar)
PhD in Musicology (Dr. phil.)
University of Music and Theatre “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” Leipzig (HMT Leipzig)
Dissertation on computer-based analysis and visualisation of music; supervisors: Prof. Dr. Gesine Schröder and Prof. Dr. Martin Supper.
Master’s studies in Composition and Electroacoustic Music
State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart (HMDK Stuttgart)
Studied with Prof. Marco Stroppa.
Postgraduate Artist Diploma (Meisterklasse) in Electroacoustic Music
University of Music and Theatre “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” Leipzig (HMT Leipzig)
Prof. Ipke Starke.
Diploma in Composition
University of Music and Theatre “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” Leipzig (HMT Leipzig)
Profs. Peter Herrmann and Ipke Starke.
Teaching
More than twelve years of teaching across electroacoustic composition and production, popular and electronic music, computer-assisted analysis, digital humanities, and AI at HMT Leipzig (2013–2025) and HfM Weimar (since 2025), combining artistic practice with research-led technical instruction.
Selected courses
- WS 2026/27Von der digitalen Edition zur computergestützten Musikanalyse: Einführung in Musik-Encoding und Tools für die Notentextanalyse
HfM Weimar · Introductory seminar on music encoding and digital tools for computational score analysis. - SS 2025Hearing (and analyzing) in time
HMT Leipzig · Groove and metric analysis in electronic music. - WS 2024/25Algorithmic music models: from analysis to style imitation with Python/AI
HMT Leipzig · Probabilistic and machine-learning techniques. - WS 2023/24AI and statistical analysis in musicological research
HMT Leipzig · Score and audio pipelines with machine learning. - SS 2023From track to DJ set, from sample to live performance
HMT Leipzig · Macroform concepts in popular electronic music. - 2013–2025Fundamentals of Electroacoustic Music I and II
HMT Leipzig · Annual foundational seminar covering acoustics, digital production, and live-electronics practice.
Artistic and Technical Practice
Selected support and production
- 2018die maschine steht still (Johanna Wokalek, Fabian Russ)
Live electronics realisation, stem mastering · Premiere — Futurium Berlin - 2017Black Is the Colour (Fabian Russ)
Restoration and mastering for cd and online release · Label: Neue Meister (Edel) - 2016Für Tuba mit Hegel (Georg Katzer)
Rehearsal, live electronics, restoration · University of Music and Theatre Leipzig - 2015Butterfly under glass (Fabian Russ, Laurie Young, Frieder Weiss)
Live electronics and stem mastering · Premiere — Scala Esslingen - 2015Harmonia Mundi (Fabian Russ)
Live electronics realisation, stem mastering · Premiere — Montforthaus Feldkirch - 2013Inside Partita (Folkert Uhde, Midori Seiler, Fabian Russ)
Live electronics realisation, stem mastering · Premiere — St. Elisabethkirche, Berlin - 2009Utopia (Thomas Kessler)
Rehearsal and technical assistance · Premiere — Viehauktionshalle Weimar
Mastering
Mastering for the Ornithopter Records catalogue as part of the label’s founding team, and for releases by bands and underground artists from Leipzig and Berlin, alongside pre-mastering for Fabian Russ’s contribution to Neue Meister: Live in Berlin (Neue Meister / Berlin Classics / Edel:Kultur). Full mastering discography and credits.
Selected artistic works
- 2013Core v2 · for oboe, English horn, and 8-channel live electronics
- 2012Manuals · for Paetzold recorder quartet and 4-channel live electronics
- 2011Core v1 · for oboe, English horn, and 4-channel live electronics
- 2011Stereo-Type II · for 2-channel tape
- 2010Stereo-Type · for 2-channel tape
- 2009Double Helix · for oboe, cello, and 4-channel live electronics
- 2008Schrittmacher · 4-channel sound installation
Electronic music releases
- 2009Two Unknown Guys — Swirl Planet EP
Ornithopter Records (OR 005) - 2008Two Unknown Guys — The Rubber Duck Massacre EP
Sinergy Networks (SN056)
Externally Funded Projects
Development of a Comprehensive Cloud-Based Toolbox for Music Score Analysis
DFG grant (€443,458) — co-applicant; research and development; project head and organisational lead: Prof. Dr. Martin Pfleiderer.
Computergestützte Musikanalyse
Fellowship funding (TMWWDG / Stifterverband) secured by Prof. Dr. Martin Pfleiderer, who led the project. Contributed as scientific assistant to CAMAT research, development, and curricular evaluation.
Publications
- Polyakov, E. (2026). FFTimbre: Exploration of Timbre by Analysis and Synthesis Using Python, Ableton, and Large Language Models. In: Innovation in Music: Current Research Perspectives (pp. 121–134). Focal Press / Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781003475675-11. DOI
- Polyakov, E. (2025). Encoding the New Frontier: Adapting MEI and Verovio for Post-Tonal and Spectral Notations. Music Encoding Conference 2025 Book of Abstracts. DOI: 10.17613/20s0d-gq678. DOI
- Pfleiderer, M.; Polyakov, E.; Nadar, C. (2024). Analyse! Development and integration of software-based tools for musicology and music theory. In: Innovation in Music: Technology and Creativity (pp. 292–309). Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781003118817-21. DOI
- Polyakov, E. (2021). Articles on George Crumb, loudspeaker orchestras, orchestras and new media, and recording technology. In: Lexikon des Orchesters. Laaber-Verlag. Link
- Polyakov, E. (2020). Computerbasierte Analyse und visuelle Repräsentationsformen der Musik. Dissertation, University of Music and Theatre Leipzig. Link
- Polyakov, E. (2019). «Крайне затруднительны и не точны» — описание инструментальных тембров в «Основах оркестровки» (1913) Н. А. Римского-Корсакова [“Extremely difficult and inaccurate”: instrumental timbres in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Principles of Orchestration (1913)]. In: Год за годом. Римский-Корсаков — 175. Материалы международной научной конференции 18–21 марта 2019 г. (pp. 37–51). St Petersburg: СПб ГБУК СПбГМТиМИ. Link
In Press / Accepted
- Polyakov, E. (in press). “Understanding and Emulating Time: Analyzing and Simulating Musical Microrhythm Timing with the beat_it Toolbox”. In: Innovation in Music: Sound and Place. Focal Press / Routledge. Link
- Polyakov, E. (in press). “Evaluation of Modern Computer-Aided Sheet Music Analysis Methods in a Practical Context”. In: GMTH Proceedings.
Under Review
- Polyakov, E. “Large Language Models as Access Layers for a Cloud-Based Music Workflow: An Exploratory Case Study”. Submitted to Proceedings of Innovation in Music 2026 (InMusic26).
Selected Talks and Conferences
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2026presented
Poster: “CAMAT_v2: Cloud-Based Tools for Collaborative Music Score Analysis”
ICCCM26, Würzburg, 21–23 September 2026 -
2026presented
Talk: “Beyond the Black Box: Democratizing Musical Analysis and Creative Workflows via LLM-Empowered Cloud-Based Jupyter Setups”
InMusic26, Aalborg, Denmark, 18–20 June 2026 -
2025
Talk: “How Machines Listen”
25th Annual Congress of the Society for Music Theory (GMTH), Lübeck, 17–19 October 2025 -
2025
Symposium organisation: “Challenges of Computer-Assisted Score Analysis”
Society for Music Research (GfM) annual conference, Weimar, 6–9 October 2025 -
2025
Talk: “Binary score representations — an interactive method for motif, chord, function, and texture search in symbolic score representations”
GfM annual conference, Weimar, 6–9 October 2025 -
2025
Talk: “Understanding and Emulating Time: Analyzing and Simulating Musical Microrhythm Timing with the beat_it Toolbox”
Innovation in Music 2025, Bath (UK), 20–22 June 2025 -
2025
Poster: “Encoding the New Frontier: Adapting MEI and Verovio for Post-Tonal and Spectral Notations”
Music Encoding Conference 2025, London, 3–6 June 2025 -
2024
Workshop: “AI for Music Theory”
24th Annual Congress of the Society for Music Theory (GMTH), Cottbus, 4–6 October 2024 -
2024
Talk: “How Constant Is Your Beat? Computer-Assisted Analysis of Beat and Tempo Fluctuations from Acousmatic Music to Minimal Techno with the beat_it Toolbox”
Rhythm under the Microscope: Microrhythm and Groove in Popular Music, mdw Vienna, 25–27 September 2024 -
2024
Talk: “Exploring Electroacoustic Music Analysis with Multimodal Large Language Models”
GfM annual conference, HfM Cologne, 11–14 September 2024 -
2023
Talk: “Reconstruct and Decompose: Extracting and Sonifying Rhythmic, Melodic and Spectral Patterns for Analytical and Creative Use”
GMTH annual conference, Freiburg, 22–24 September 2023 -
2022
Workshop: “Evaluation of computer-assisted music score analysis methods within the Fellowship project Computer-assisted music analysis at music university Weimar”
GMTH annual conference, Salzburg, 30 September–2 October 2022 -
2022
Talk: “Analyze! Development and integration of software-based tools for musicological and music theoretical needs”
Innovation in Music Conference 2022, Stockholm, 17–19 June 2022 · with M. Pfleiderer and C. Nadar -
2019
Talk: “Immer ungenau und mangelhaft — description of instrumental tone colours in Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Principles of Orchestration’ in the context of current developments in computer-based timbre analysis”
Rimsky-Korsakov at 175, St. Petersburg, 18–21 March 2019 -
2017
Talk: “Self-similarity matrix in the context of computer-based timbre analysis and its use in teaching”
Symposium: Popular Music and its Theories, GMTH annual congress, Graz, 17–19 November 2017