Also delivering the 2026 commencement address, he has helped expand music’s possibilities for artists and audiences alike through his work in participatory opera, AI, and creative technologies.

Tod Machover, Muriel R. Cooper Professor of Music and Media, Faculty Director of the MIT Media Lab, and director of the Opera of the Future research group, will receive the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music and Dance in America — the highest honor bestowed by the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Machover will also deliver both the undergraduate and graduate Commencement Addresses at the Peabody Conservatory's 2026 Graduation ceremonies on May 20 in Baltimore.

Machover joins a roster of previous George Peabody Medal recipients that includes Stevie Wonder, Misty Copeland, Herbie Hancock, Renée Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Ella Fitzgerald, and Leonard Bernstein.

In the citation for the Peabody Medal, Peabody Institute Dean Fred Bronstein writes: “The breadth and depth of Tod Machover’s career — his work in participatory opera, as an educator and faculty director of the MIT Media Lab, his genuinely groundbreaking and prescient work at the intersection of music and technology, along with an overall and broad impact on the American music scene — make him an ideal recipient for the Peabody Medal…Machover continues to provide inspiration especially in the fast-evolving relationship between AI and the creative process. We are honored to welcome to campus a true pioneer and thought leader.”

Hailed as a “musical visionary” and “America’s most wired composer,” Machover is recognized as one of the most innovative composers active today, praised for creating music that breaks traditional artistic and cultural boundaries and for developing technologies that expand music's potential for everyone. He was the first Director of Musical Research at Pierre Boulez's IRCAM in Paris and was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2024. His work has been recognized by organizations including the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the French Culture Ministry.

The Peabody Institute, the first music conservatory in the United States, advances a dynamic model of the performing arts, empowering musicians and dancers from diverse backgrounds to create and perform at the highest level. As a division of Johns Hopkins University, Peabody provides opportunities for interdisciplinary studies and is a leading voice at the intersection of art and education.