Davidovsky's Synchronisms No. 11 and 12 to be premiered at SEAMUS 2006

As part of it's 20th anniversary celebration, the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States will be participating in the commission and world premiere of Mario Davidovsky's Synchronisms No. 11 and 12 at SEAMUS 2006. full story

It is time for the annual election of members to serve on the SEAMUS Board of Directors. This year, for the first time ever, SEAMUS is discontinuing the use of paper ballots and are holding our elections online. Current SEAMUS members may read each candidate's election statement and biography, and begin the voting process by clicking here.

The deadline for voting is Friday, April 1st, 2005, at 11:59 P.M. Pacific Time. The positions up for election this year are Vice President for Programs, Secretary, and Treasurer. The candidates are:

Vice President for Programs:
Paul Rudy
Dan Weymouth

The VP for Programs works to develop innovative programs for SEAMUS and to coordinate current program offerings. The VP for Programs serves as the point person for SEAMUS EA Music Month, including the production and dissemination of the SEAMUS EA Music Month posters

Secretary:
Elizabeth Hoffman
Tom Lopez

The Secretary of the Board is responsible for taking, editing, and distributing board meeting minutes (the meetings all take place at the annual conference) as well as gathering and coordinating board email discussions throughout the year.

Treasurer:
Ivica Ico Bukvic

The Treasurer of the Board is responsible for providing annual fiscal reports to the Board, generating and filing annual SEAMUS tax reports, working in consort with the VP for Membership by depositing member dues, and other aspects of our fiscal operations.

IMPORTANT UPDATE

ONLINE CONFERENCE REGISTRATION: IS NOW CLOSED

The performance/paper presentation schedule for SEAMUS 2005 as been released. As the 2005 conference is swiftly approaching, keep your browsers pointed to the official SEAMUS 2005 webspace for more information.

President's Announcement: Davidovsky Commission

Dear SEAMUS Members:

I'm very pleased to announce that, as part of our celebration of the 20th anniversary of the founding of SEAMUS, the SEAMUS Board of Directors has voted to join a consortium of institutions that are commissioning the renowned composer Mario Davidovsky to write two new electroacoustic works in honor of his 70th birthday. SEAMUS will contribute the standard fee of $2,000 required to join the consortium, but it will also serve as the umbrella organization for the commission, coordinating various aspects of the project and collecting and dispersing the funds. In return, the Davidovsky commission will be officially connected to our 20th anniversary celebration, and the world premieres of the new works will take place at our national conference. Other institutions who have joined the consortium to date are Brandeis University, Columbia University, Harvard University, University of Missouri Kansas City, University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Rice University, The University of Texas at Austin, University of North Texas.

As I'm sure every member of SEAMUS knows, Mario Davidovsky is one of the most important living composers of electroacoustic music. His ten Synchronisms are seminal works, with the 6th in that series winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1971. One of the greatest masters of classical tape composition, and perhaps the foremost pioneer in composing works for acoustic instruments and electronic sounds, Davidovsky was awarded the SEAMUS Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989. The two new pieces will be
Synchronisms No. 11 and 12, respectively. Synchronisms No. 11 will be for contrabass, and written for Donald Palma. Synchronisms No. 12 will be for bass clarinet, and written for Allen Blustine. Davidovsky plans to complete the first work in time for a world premiere at the 2006 SEAMUS National Conference.

I am personally very excited about the fact that SEAMUS will be taking the lead in this important commission, which will result in the creation of two new works of historical significance. Without question, these pieces will be published, recorded, and performed numerous times. They will be reviewed in places like the New York Times; they will be in every major music library; they will be analyzed by theorists and scholars. I cannot imagine a more appropriate and significant way to officially mark the 20th
anniversary of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States than to help commission one of our foremost composers in celebration of his 70th birthday.

Sincerely yours,

Russell Pinkston, President
SEAMUS

Born and raised in Michigan, J. Anthony Allen is a prolific composer of both acoustic and electronic music. He has worked with many forms of interactive media including audio, video, installation and dance. Mr. Allen’s work as been called "a study in ominous sound and motion"(Baltimore Sun), and "a standing ovation" (GVSU Lanthorn).

Allen has performed on electronic devices on several occasions including performances with members of the Zeitgeist Contemporary Music Ensemble, in New York City and at the MATA festival, Miami, FL., Minneapolis, MN., as well as recurring performances with the improvisation group Ballet Méchanique. He performs extensively both as a guitarist and incorporating wearable sensor controllers built and designed by himself. He has performed at the Guitar Foundation of America National Conference, given numerous solo concerts and recitals, as well as professional studio work.

Allen's artistic interests lie not only in exploring new sounds and methods of music, but sociological aspects of performance art as well. This philosophy is evident in his works with firedancers, turtablists, outdoor performances, non-traditional instruments, and upcoming collaborations with skateboarders and engineers. Allen's work has been presented at the Society of Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) national conference, Society of Composers (SCI) national student conference, Electronic Music Midwest festival, Spark festival (Minneapolis), Music at the Anthology festival (MATA, New York City), June in Buffalo Festival and the Aspen Music Festival, for which he received the Susan and Ford Schumann Award. Allen is a recipient of the Prix D'Ete award (first prize, Peabody Conservatory), Macht Orchestral Prize and P. Bruce Blair Award (Peabody Conservatory), was a regional winner of the SCI/ASCAP Student Commission Prize, recipient of a Peabody Institute Career Development Grant, and an ASCAP Standard Award. Recent paper publications have appeared in Organized Sound (Cambridge University Press), Proceedings of the third annual Spark Festival, and ComposersOnline.Org.

Allen is a founding member of the Dal Niente Composers Group, and is co-creator and co-senior editor of ComposersOnline.Org. He currently teaches at the University of Minnesota and the Mt. Calvary Music Academy in Excelsior, Minnesota.

Visit J. Anthony Allen's website here

The SEAMUS MEMBER FOCUS is an ongoing news feature of SEAMUSONLINE. which randomly spotlights individuals from it's fellowship. Members are asked to keep their webspaces current...you could very likely be next!

SEAMUS's 20th anniversary was recently recognized in the May edition of Mix Magazine. For anyone who may have missed it in print, the article is still featured on MIXonline: go here

Music From SEAMUS, Vol 13

The 13th edition in the Music From SEAMUS CD series has been released. Taken from works presented at the 2003 National Conference at ASU, this compilation includes Mark Applebaum, John Appleton, Larry Austin, Benjamin Broening, Konstantinos Karathanasis, Elainie Lillios, James Mobberley, Noel Paul and Russell Pinkston. click here to order.

Early proteges of John Cage, Louis and Bebe Barron's influence on the escalation of electronic music is immeasurable. Among many groundbreaking acheivements, they were the first ever commissioned to write an all-electronic score to a major motion picture. MGM's 1956 release of Forbidden Planet was, for many of us, our introduction to electronic music and that may still be true today as the soundtrack to that album is one of the best selling original electronic music albums ever released.

In a recent week-long interview conducted by NPR's Susan Stone, Bebe Barron went into detail on the role she played in the realization of their historic body of work which accompanied Forbidden Planet - her recording, editing and sifting through hours of source materials for snippets worthy of further processing. Due to conflicts with union regulations, these efforts went largely unnoticed by the crediting institutions at the time -- but this all changed on February 7th with National Public Radio's insightful focus into the Barron's pioneering experiements.

SEAMUSONLINE spoke to Susan Stone about the interview, the effect it had on her, and on working with Bebe. click here to read the interview

For those who may have missed it, you can stil hear the NPR braodcast in its entirety by clicking here

photo credit: Susan Stone

The Society recently conducted a survey among its membership to determine the priorities and needs the society must address in the coming years. Top level results of that survey can be seen here

SEAMUS wishes to congratulate Barry Vercoe as the recipient of the 17th Annual Seamus Lifetime Achievement Award on April 24th. 2004 full story

Every year, the Board of Directors selects the recipient of the SEAMUS Award, in recognition of lifetime achievement and contribution to the art and craft of electro-acoustic music. The award is presented at the SEAMUS National Conference.

The 16 previous award winners are listed below. Click on the recipient name for a bio:

SEAMUS would like to gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the following companies in sponsoring the 2004 member survey: Native Instruments, Bias and Sonic Foundry/Sony.

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Comments? Questions? Contact?

email the President, Russell Pinkston
email the VP of Membership, Brian Belet
email the SEAMUSONLINE webmaster

The SEAMUS Webpeople are currently updating the contact information of the Members Listings section of SEAMUSONLINE (go here). If you are not currently listed or if your link is incorrectly listed, drop them a line here. Current SEAMUS members may request either a website or email link, not both.

Eric Lyon • Ex Cathedra (centaur)

Scott Smallwood • Electrotherapy (deep listening)

David Ozab • Tempo Ficta (cdbaby.com)

Michael Rhoades • Dream Travels and the 18th Rule (Perception Factory)

.(SEAMUS members - send info on
your CD releases here)

The annual SEAMUS National Conference is the cornerstone ofhe organization's yearly schedule. If you and your institution are interested in hosting one of these prestigious events, click here to download the SEAMUS National Conference Handbook for guidelines.