Columbia University's CMC and Historical Musicology Colloquium Series presents Acoustics of Notre-Dame: Construction, Auralization, and Reconstruction, a talk by Dr. Elliot Canfield-Dafilou
Friday, Feb 21, 3pm
Dodge Hall, room 701C (the Ethnomusicology Center)
Notre-Dame, the emblematic Gothic cathedral is one of the most recognizable cultural heritage sites in Paris. In 2019, a fire in the cathedral's attic destroyed the spire, left large holes in the vaulted ceiling, and threatened the structural integrity of the building. While the cathedral has been rebuilt in the image of its "last known visual state before the fire," longstanding cathedrals like Notre-Dame should be considered to be "living buildings" that continuously evolve in response to social, political, cultural, and ecclesiastical factors. In this talk, we will discuss using room acoustics simulation to preserve, study, and listen to Notre-Dame's intangible acoustic cultural heritage in different eras of its storied history.
Dr. Elliot Canfield-Dafilou studies relationships between architectural acoustics and listeners, musicians, and composers. His work is multidisciplinary and frequently combines scientific and creative endeavors. He was a researcher in the Institut Jean le Rond d’Alembert at Sorbonne Université studying the aural heritage of Notre-Dame de Paris. Elliot earned his Ph.D. from the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University with a dissertation on Performing, Recording, and Producing Immersive Music. At Stanford, Elliot was part of the Icons of Sound project simulating Byzantine chant in the acoustics of Turkey’s Hagia Sophia. Elliot is currently a research fellow at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.
