bio

Hi, I’m Michael Gancz. ​

I am a Ph.D. student in computer-based music and acoustics at Stanford University’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). Before coming to Stanford, I conducted research in music, medicine, and technology at the Yale Center for Immersive Technologies in Pediatrics and the Mark Gerstein Laboratory. I hold degrees from Yale (MA, BA 2022; summa cum laude) and the Belgian Royal Carillon School ‘Jef Denyn’ (2023; great distinction). Outside of my studies, I freelance as a carillonist and trombonist, as well as a composer, sound designer, and producer for stage and screen. 

My research interests center on the interactions of music and health, including immersive interaction design, neurologic music therapy, and ludic musical architecture. I’m also interested in building tools for music-based community service and advocacy. I’ve shared my research at conferences including NIME, ISMIR and IMX, as well as journals including Science, Nature: Machine Intelligence, and The Journal of the Royal Society: Interface.

My music and multimedia work can be found on streaming services, at film and new music festivals, in games and podcasts, on Times Square billboards, in clubs and on stage. My work has earned honors including an ASCAP Morton Gould award, a BAEF Research Fellowship, and Creator Grant from New Music USA.