Assistant Professor · Universidad de Valladolid
Researcher Collaborator · NICS, UNICAMP · Brazil
At the intersection of music, technology, and the human body — designing Extended Digital Musical Instruments, exploring immersive environments, and asking how sound can transform lives.
I am an Italian researcher, artist and educator working hard to bridge the gaps in geography. I am an Assistant Professor at the Universidad de Valladolid and a Researcher Collaborator at the Núcleo Interdisciplinar de Comunicação Sonora (NICS), Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). I am also Associate Editor at the International Journal of Art Therapy.
EDMIMusic TherapyEmbodied CognitionArt InstallationsHCIPhilosophy of MindNeuroplasticityEthnomusicologyXR · ImmersiveComposition
Research Project · Patent UVa 2016
e-mocomu
e-motion · colours · music — an Extended Digital Musical Instrument (EDMI) patented at the Universidad de Valladolid.
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E-mocomu is a multisensory technology designed for early childhood education, special education, physiotherapy and early stimulation centres. It transforms body movement into music and animated colour graphics.
e-mocomu is an Extended Digital Musical Instrument (EDMI) that maps bodily movement, colour perception, and real-time sound generation into a single interactive experience. Developed and patented at the Universidad de Valladolid (2016), it embodies the idea that music-making can be free from physical objects — driven by the body itself.
The instrument translates motion and colour data into live musical output, enabling participants — including those with motor or cognitive difficulties — to engage in genuine musical creation through free movement in space. It has been applied in therapeutic, pedagogical, and artistic performance contexts.
e-motion
Body movement and proprioception as primary musical gesture — translating motion into expressive, real-time sound.
Colours
Real-time colour input as a musical parameter, connecting visual perception and aesthetic experience to sound.
Music
Live, generative musical output shaped by the participant's own bodily and sensory engagement with the space.
Inclusive Design
Accessible, low-cost technology — conceived for rehabilitation, creative empowerment, and live performance.
BehCreative — EDMI for Neuroplasticity & Music Therapy · @NICS & BRAINN, Unicamp, Brazil
Artistic Work
Music & Compositions
Compositions, sound installations, and networked performances — where artistic practice and research converge.
Composition · SoundCloud
Nuvole
An original composition selected for a short film screened at the Venice Biennale 2007, Queer2Queer Pavilion. A meditation on texture, drift, and the in-between — available on SoundCloud.
An interactive installation at the GAIA Gallery (Brazil). Participants generate real-time audiovisual feedback through bodily movement, exploring proprioception and self-awareness through advanced interactive technologies. Published in Leonardo (MIT Press, 2026).
Generative networked creation in which collaborators act simultaneously on a shared artistic process. A computer network integrates communication and processes generative transformations in real time. With Manzolli, Moroni et al. (NICS, Unicamp).
Newspaper interviews, radio broadcasts, and press coverage — in chronological order.
2026
NODAL Award · IMFAHE Symposium
SoundXR Project Wins NODAL Award
The SoundXR project, led by Prof. Elena Partesotti, was awarded the NODAL Award at the IMFAHE Symposium — recognising outstanding innovation in music, health, and arts-based education technology.
Recent article in El Norte de Castilla covering Elena Partesotti's research at the Universidad de Valladolid on EDMIs, music therapy and immersive technologies. [Update with direct link]
Press
2026
La Tribuna de Valladolid
Interview on music technology and therapy
Coverage in La Tribuna de Valladolid of Partesotti's interdisciplinary work at UVa connecting music, extended instruments, and therapeutic practice. [Update with direct link]
Press
2024
BRAINN · Jornal da Unicamp · Brazil
The Body as an Instrument: BehCreative and Neuroplasticity
Feature article on BehCreative — a digital cave developed by Elena Partesotti at UNICAMP/NICS. The piece covers the EDMI's design, stroke rehabilitation applications with Prof. Gabriela Castellano, and ongoing EEG studies at BRAINN.
Radio interview with Elena Partesotti discussing her research trajectory — e-mocomu, BehCreative, immersive environments, and the intersection of music therapy with emerging technologies.
Interview published in the Spanish national newspaper El Mundo covering e-mocomu, the EDMI prototype developed at UVa — its therapeutic applications, design, and future directions.
A Device That Combines Music, Colour and Movement for Therapeutic Purposes
Cristina G. Pedraz for DICYT — the first major press coverage of e-mocomu as a PhD prototype at UVa. The article explains how the system allows users to generate sound, colour, and movement simultaneously, with applications in autism, rehabilitation, and music pedagogy.
Academic formation, research positions, and selected output.
Education
2016
PhD — Music Technology & Therapeutic Prototypes
Universidad de Valladolid, Spain
2014
Master in Music Therapy
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
2011
Musicology
University of Padova, Italy
2010
Music Composition · Musicology · Ethnomusicology
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
2005
Sound Engineer
Conservatory of Music, Padova, Italy
Academic Timeline
2025
present
Researcher Collaborator
NICS · Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil
202?
present
Assistant Professor
Dpto. Didáctica Expresión Musical, Plástica y Corporal — Universidad de Valladolid
2025
present
Associate Editor
International Journal of Art Therapy
2019
– 2025
PostDoc Researcher
NICS & BRAINN · Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil
2011
– 2016
PhD Researcher
Universidad de Valladolid · Music Technology & Therapeutic Prototypes
2011
– 2014
Master in Music Therapy
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
What's happening
Events and open calls.
General Co-chair
ArtsIT 2026
2–4 Dec · Bratislava, Slovakia · Hybrid
Open Call · Extended Deadline: 1 July 2026
15th EAI ArtsIT — Special Track: Accessible Digital Music for Education and Therapy
Elena Partesotti serves as General Co-chair of ArtsIT 2026 (hybrid, Bratislava). The conference features a Special Track on Accessible Digital Music for Education and Therapy. Extended deadline 1 July 2026.
