Musical Scores for Virtual Reality Headsets: Compositional Strategies and Performative Challenges

Abstract Digital technologies are transforming the way in which composers conceive and efficiently communicate their creative ideas to performers. In this context, the development of virtual reality devices is shaping new compositional and performative affordances. This article focuses on the use of virtual reality headsets for reading digital scores in multimedia contexts through two case studies. First, the author explains the practical reasons leading the composers to incorporate these devices and the technical solutions for their exploitation. Second, and by means of surveys of performers who have taken part in these case studies, some challenging features of multimodal interaction are flagged. A final discussion opens the doors to future collaboration between musicians and the scholarly community.