Philipp von Neumann

Philipp von Neumann is a composer and performer of contemporary electronic music based in Essen, Germany.

He engages with fundamental techniques of digital sound synthesis and immersive multichannel sound, algorithmic structures, and machine listening as approaches to exploring new musical forms. The resulting works investigate the materiality of computer music, the relationship between humans and machines, as well as authorship and agency within algorithmic assemblages.

Von Neumann's compositions are not finished works, but iterative variants of an ongoing research process. He describes this mode of working as "Permacomposing" — a concept he developed drawing on ideas from permaculture, cybernetics, and maintenance art. Permacomposing stands for a conscious engagement with materials and tools, a sustainable approach to one's own mental capacities, and a networked, diverse mode of practice.

As an advocate of the open-source movement, von Neumann develops his own tools and software and makes them publicly available. He also writes and publishes texts on his artistic practice and computer music, works as a sound engineer and teacher of sound synthesis, and serves as a radio host and curator for various concert series and events.