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“Automation Divine”: Early Computer Music and the Selling of the Cold War

“Automation Divine”: Early Computer Music and the Selling of the Cold War

Matthew Guerrieri dives deep into something particular about the early days of computer music in the United States. It got its start, quite literally, in the off-hour downtime of the military-industrial complex.

George Tsontakis—Getting Out of My Introvertism

George Tsontakis—Getting Out of My Introvertism

Although George Tsontakis has had a career that most American composers would envy, he aspires to a hermetic existence in the middle of the woods and composes something only when...

Dissing The Competition

Dissing The Competition

Rather than pay fees to competitions that one is statistically unlikely to win, a composer’s efforts and money will be far better devoted to attending music conferences and new music...

THE LATEST FROM NEWMUSICBOX AND AROUND THE WEB

Garlands for Steven Stucky

Garlands for Steven Stucky

Steven Stucky died much too soon—and for so many of us, unacceptably—at the age of 66. The CD recording Garlands for Steven Stucky is a collection of short piano pieces...

Channeling the Messengers

Channeling the Messengers

The fact is, if we’re really doing our jobs as artists, we don’t know what we’re doing. Yes, the work needs to be applied and the technique needs to be...

Only in Los Angeles?

Only in Los Angeles?

It could be said that Los Angeles has conspired, by countless means and for many decades, to make itself into as hospitable an environment for new music as possible.

New Music USA Announces Interim Plans During Nationwide Search for New President and CEO

New Music USA staff member Deborah Steinglass has assumed the role of Interim CEO (effective October 1, 2018) while the organization’s board of directors is involved in a nationwide search...

The Autobiographical Impulse in Composition

The Autobiographical Impulse in Composition

No matter what an artist does, the choices are often subconscious, based on personal experience and background. This background dictates where we take our music.

It’s All People. And It’s All Connected

It’s All People. And It’s All Connected

Writing all of this down has been an opportunity to sort through some of the chaos of the last ten years or so. I’ve never really sat down and written...

Remembering Randy Weston (1926-2018)—A True Musical Giant

Remembering Randy Weston (1926-2018)—A True Musical Giant

On September 1, 2018, we lost a true musical giant, innovator, NEA Jazz Master, and a warrior for the elevation of African-American pride and culture.

Sound, Architecture, and Necromancy

Sound, Architecture, and Necromancy

Neil Leonard is drawn to exploring sound in unusual architectural spaces—locations he finds by accident, through recommendations from friends, and by searching for sites with peculiar histories. This week he...

Surfing on a Constantly Shifting Bed of Earthquaking Sand Dunes

Surfing on a Constantly Shifting Bed of Earthquaking Sand Dunes

You don’t get to just change one part of your life at once. That’s not what life is. Life is where you surf on a constantly shifting bed of earthquaking...

Sonic Cartography II: Questions of Scale

Sonic Cartography II: Questions of Scale

Neil Leonard sought to express something of the wonder he felt, not just experiencing new sounds on site, but also learning the context in which those sounds exist. It led...

The Magic That Happens in a Week

The Magic That Happens in a Week

Vermont College of Fine Arts plays up the “low residency” aspect of its music composition MFA program. You study remotely with a grad advisor for six months, and then you...

TODAY'S COMPOSER BIRTHDAY

Craig Carnahan

Born: Tuesday, October 16, 1951

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