By Rachel Ston

Jordan Rudess will perform two concerts at MIT's Thomas Tull Concert Hall on Saturday, October 3, 2026, during the inaugural MIT Future Fest alongside musical guests and jam_bot, an AI model developed with Rudess and trained on his playing. At the heart of theconcert is a simple idea: this technology is not here to replace musicians, but to expand their creative possibilities and inspire new ways of making music.

The concert will feature the world premiere of Rudess and jam_bot improvising with the MIT Chamber Chorus, with jam_bot creating music for the singers in real time. Performances are October 3 at 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

The jam_bot project has been developed over the past three years in collaboration with theMIT Media Lab by Lancelot Blanchard, Perry Naseck, and Professor Joseph A. Paradiso during Rudess's Center for Art, Science & Technology Distinguished Visiting Artist residency at MIT. These concerts are a rare opportunity to experience the next chapter of this research project and witness Rudess interact with an advanced real-time system that enables theuse of generative AI models in live music performances.

Moving from Baroque counterpoint to progressive rock and beyond, the program will be built around live improvisation. jam_bot is able to listen and respond to Rudess in real time, while also generating musical material that can be performed by other musicians onstage, opening the door to new forms of collaborative improvisation.