At NAMM 2026, the MIDI Innovation Award’s Jean Baptiste Thiebaut, Judge Lucas Cantor Santiago, and MIDI Innovation Award winners Anthony Dickens from Circle Instruments, and Mike Venter from Azotech discussed the 2025 MIDI Innovation Awards and plans for 2026.
MIDI Innovation Award 2025 winners
Azoteq MIDI 2.0 Full Motion Key Position Sensor Module
— Full-stroke key position sensors that enhance expression for MPE and MIDI 2.0 synths.
Circle Guitar — An electric guitar fused with a MIDI-programmable sequencer for new rhythmic and sonic possibilities.
JAM_BOT — A system for real-time human-AI co-created symbolic music improvisation with live visualization.
Native Instruments Kontakt 8 — The latest edition of NI’s sampling platform with intelligent MIDI tools.
Native Instruments Kontrol S-Series MK3 — Next-generation MIDI keyboard controller with deep integration and MIDI 2.0 support.
Playtonik — A musical fidget toy using shapes to produce ambient or energetic soundscapes
