How Karen Khachatryan Created Notation AI and What It Is Changing in Classical Concert Video Production:   Symphony

Symphony, the magazine of the League of American Orchestras, has published an in-depth article about the system created by our compatriot Karen Khachatryan. The article states, in particular:

“For many years, filming classical concerts has been considered a technically complex and resource-intensive field, where high-quality results were achievable only with large teams and significant budgets. However, the initiative of concert video producer Karen Khachatryan—Notation AI—offers a different approach, using automation while preserving the artistic integrity of live performance.

Since 2011, Khachatryan has been involved in documenting classical concerts and, through hands-on experience, observed recurring patterns in the filming process: following soloists, highlighting orchestral sections, and anticipating musical cues. These years of observation became the foundation for a central idea—whether such patterns could be expressed as algorithms.

Notation AI is built around the musical score. The system ‘reads’ the structure of a composition and aligns camera decisions with the unfolding music. As a result, automated directing is able to respond to the same questions typically handled by a human director: which instrument leads, when a solo begins, and when musical emphasis shifts.

For Khachatryan, this project is not about replacing human creativity, but supporting it. In his words, Notation AI has evolved over the years into a functioning software system that continuously improves by combining engineering thinking with musical knowledge.

Within the professional field, this approach has the potential to bring significant change. Automation enables smaller orchestras, music schools, and regional ensembles to document their concerts at a high level without large production budgets. At the same time, major and high-profile artistic projects continue to require the aesthetic judgment of human directors, shaping a hybrid model for classical concert video production.

Notation AI is thus not only a technological innovation, but also an attempt to rethink how experience, musical thinking, and automation can work together to expand access to and documentation of classical art.”