Robots are at it again... Music in the Space Between Us

Write up and interview about March 5th (2016) Seattle concert by Jill Kimball in Second Inversion.

Recommendation from MEMETERIA by Thomas May

If you find yourself in the upper left hand corner of the country, hope you can join us and our mechanical friends in... "Music from the space between us," a concert performed by humans and robots featuring the Lafayette String Quartet, Robotic instruments by Trimpin, radiodrum soloist Andrew Schloss and Luminaries from Seattle to Lithuania; with music by Dimitri Shostakovich, Rebecca Clarke and David A. Jaffe.

Chapel Performance Space, 7:30 PM, March 5th. $15 on-line, sliding scale at the door (free for robots). At the Historic Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N., 4th Floor, Seattle WA (corner of 50th St. in Wallingford)

Presented by Nonsequitur. Thanks to Yamaha USA. The Space Between Us, for 8 strings, and robotic percussion instruments was supported by New Music USA. To follow the project as it unfolds, visit the project page

Recording of Mills College "Songlines" Lecture

The first part of the Mills College Songlines lecture I did in Nov. 2015... 

The Sound of Innovation - Stanford and the Computer Music Revolution

Fascinating book by Andrew J. Nelson on the history of CCRMA, particularly focusing on the 1980s and 1990s. Chapter 7 is called "Plucking the Golden Gate Bridge," with extensive excerpts from the author's interviews with me, Julius Smith, and others. Overview from web site...

In the 1960s, a team of Stanford musicians, engineers, computer scientists, and psychologists used computing in an entirely novel way: to produce and manipulate sound and create the sonic basis of new musical compositions. This group of interdisciplinary researchers at the nascent Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA, pronounced “karma”) helped to develop computer music as an academic field, invent the technologies that underlie it, and usher in the age of digital music. In The Sound of Innovation, Andrew Nelson chronicles the history of CCRMA, tracing its origins in Stanford’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory through its present-day influence on Silicon Valley and digital music groups worldwide.

Nelson emphasizes CCRMA’s interdisciplinarity, which stimulates creativity at the intersections of fields; its commitment to open sharing and users; and its pioneering commercial engagement. He shows that Stanford’s outsized influence on the emergence of digital music came from the intertwining of these three modes, which brought together diverse supporters with different aims around a field of shared interest. Nelson thus challenges long-standing assumptions about the divisions between art and science, between the humanities and technology, and between academic research and commercial applications, showing how the story of a small group of musicians reveals substantial insights about innovation.

Nelson draws on extensive archival research and dozens of interviews with digital music pioneers; the book’s website provides access to original historic documents and other material.

Further info here.

Bits, Birds and Bluegrass - Mills College Songline Series - Nov. 23, 2015

I will be presenting a concert and lecture at Mills College on November 23, as part of their Songlines series. Entitled "Bits, Birds and Bluegrass," it will include my first public performance of "Cluck Old Hen Variations" (though not the first time the work has been performed). I will also be performing "Impossible Animals," for Zeta violin and computer voices. The lecture will include excerpts from such works as "Would You Just As Soon Sing As Make That Noise!?," "Who's on First?" and "The Space Between Us."

More info at Mills Now.

Here is a short excerpt of my performance of "Cluck..." from an informal concert at Universal Audio corporate headquarters in Scotts Valley, California. 

Dybbuk performed by Santa Cruz New Music Works

On October 24, 2015, Santa Cruz New Music Works performed my 1980 work, Dybbuk, as part of their annual halloween concert, "Night of the Living Composers" at Samper Recital Hall at Cabrillo College, Aptos, California. I performed the offstage mandolin part from a hidden location in the balcony. Photos below. The concert was conducted by Phil Collins.