The LoLa system (Low Latency) is a high-quality, low latency audio/video transmission system designed to enable musical performances in real-time when musicians are physically located at different sites. The system is connected by advanced network services, like RENATER in France.

The LoLa system was developed in 2005 by the Conservatorio di Musica Giuseppe Tartini in Trieste (Italy) in collaboration with the Italian research and academic network GARR to enable musicians to rehearse remotely.

This system is now widely deployed in institutions (universities, research centres…) across the world.

As a pedagogical tool, the system enables teachers to give masterclasses and to teach in close proximity to their students without needing to travel. As a creation tool, it allows links to be maintained between composers and performers.

In the context of the recent health crisis and the associated lockdowns, this system offers new and not fully explored performance options with new challenges and new opportunities.

LoLa was first demonstrated in public in 2010, with a piano duo concert featuring musicians from the Conservatorio Tartini in Trieste and the IRCAM music research institute in Paris, and the system is now deployed in a large number of institutions around the world (LoLa installations), all of which are connected to their national research and education network.

For Europe In C, PIANO AND CO, as well as two project partners, Ostende Conservatory and the LabMat of Athens University, equipped themselves with this system.

PIANO AND CO is seeking to promote this technology and to keep experimenting with its use. In the context of travel limits such as those implemented during the COVID-19 crisis and the need to encourage more sustainable practices, it has become an even more important tool, and PIANO AND CO wants to make it available to other local and regional cultural stakeholders.