The New Music Ensemble at Towson University 

Concert April 25, 2007   8:15 PM


FEATURED COMPOSERS

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Composer and author Kristine H. Burns is Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for the College of Architecture + The Arts at Florida International University in Miami. She has previously served on the faculties of Dartmouth College and the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. As the owner and editor of WOW/EM, Women On the Web/ElectronMedia (http://music.dartmouth.edu/~wowem), she has created an award-winning educational web site for young women interested in creative digital media, as well as science, math, and computers.

Burns' scores and recordings are published and distributed by everglade records, inc., Tuba-Euphonium Press, Frogpeak Music, and Seeland Records. Her book Women and Music in the US Since 1900: an encyclopedia (Greenwood, 2002) was "Enthusiastically recommended for large public libraries and music libraries." because "no other source so comprehensively covers American women and music simultaneously" (Library Journal). The encyclopedia has won numerous awards, including the Library Journal Best Reference Source, 2003; CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, Outstanding Academic Titles, 2003; and Association of Research Colleges and Libraries, "Most Essential Work," 2002–2003.

She is a member of the College Music Society (CMS), International Computer Music Association (ICMA), the International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM), for which she served as President from 2001–2003, and the Society of Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS), for which she currently serves as editor of Journal SEAMUS. Her music has been described as "offbeat," "humorous," and "striking." Often integrating digital audio and video in her compositions, Burns considers herself an intermedia artist. Her compositions have been performed throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia, including the 2003 International Festival of Women in Music (Seoul), the Third Practice Festival (Richmond, VA), the Florida Electro-Acoustic Music Festival (Gainesville), the Helsinki Museum of Art, the International Society of Bassists, the International Congress of Women in Music (Vienna), the FUTURA Festival (Drome, France), the Birmingham Art Music Alliance, and SEAMUS and SCI National Conferences.

Reviews of Music

“(Heavy Metal) uses lava-lamp-like projected images with her music, which strikingly juxtaposes a series of metallic sounds.” Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, April 4, 2001

“Underwear humorously and effectively captures a poem by Lawrence Ferlinghetti of the same name.” Computer Music Journal, Volume 4, no. 4, Winter 2000.

“Zing! was the most atmospheric piece, with a distant voice emitting ‘zing’ amid a haze of electronic whirring.”  Miami Herald, April 19, 1999

“Burns is notable among composers for the stunning beauty of her visual transformations.  Her highly sophisticated visual work always displays a unified sense of form, and avoids the naive cliches...”  SEAMUS Newsletter, “CD-ROM Review: Multimedia CD-ROMs at SCI National Conference,” volume 7, number 3, volume 7, no.3, Spring 1998

“...rather than attempt to describe [Earlobe], I would encourage that you make an attempt to experience it for yourself!”  Journal SEAMUS,  “SEAMUS Visits Birmingham: A Report on the SEAMUS Conference at Birmingham-Southern College,” volume XI, no. 2, November 1996

“Burns’ compositions are eerie and interesting.  People who appreciate music, modern dance and the arts will be intrigued...” MacHome Journal, April 1996

“Frequently raw, mysterious and dense [The Enchanted Castle] demands a great deal of the audience...A composition of extreme integrity and vision...”  Journal SEAMUS, “Bowling Green New Music and Art Festival, Bowling Green State University, October 13-15, 1994,” volume X, no. 1, April 1995

“[The Enchanted Castle is a]...fascinating dissection of language into component sounds, similar to Picasso’s fracturing of the human face into planes through cubism...” The Toledo Blade, October 14, 1994

Reviews of WOW'EM

The Third Millennium Education Project
“An empowering introduction for young women to career opportunities in digital media.  This insightful, highly-integrated site successfully blends technology and art resources and discussions to challenge female users to use their talents in the third artform—multimedia or intermedia.”  <http://www.millennaire.com>

Suite101.com
“...a delightful site...Meant to encourage young women to avail themselves of all areas of art and technology.  I don’t think they'd protest if a gentleman or two wandered over to learn a few things.”  <http://www.suite101.com>

Electronic Musician, “Desktop Musician: Back to School Online,” May 1998
“In addition to a huge amount of useful information intended for women just starting their careers in music, there are many well-written articles on electronic music topics.”

Reviews of Women and Music in America Since 1900: an encyclopedia

Library Journal (Starred Review) 
“no other source so comprehensively covers American women and music simultaneously. Enthusiastically recommended for large public libraries and music libraries.”

Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin (American Library Association)
“combining selective biographical coverage with entries for topics that address a variety of related issues provides useful context and a unique perspective. This set would be a valuable addition to academic and larger public libraries as well as any library that specializes in music or in women's studies”

CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries
“This set will become an essential reference took. Highly recommended [for] all collections.”



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Colby Leider is an assistant professor of music media and industry and teaches in the music engineering technology program at the Frost School. He holds degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and music composition from Dartmouth and Princeton.

He has received prizes and honors from the International Computer Music Association (commission, 2002), the American Composers Forum Sonic Circuits program (1998, 2002–2003), the Institut International de Musique Electroacoustique de Bourges (Prix Résidence, 2000), and Princeton University (Perkins Prize, 1998; Naumberg Fellowship, 1998–2004). He has composed music for the Nash Ensemble of London, Paul Hillier and the Theatre of Voices, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, contrabassist Bertram Turetzky, percussionist Gregory Beyer, and accordionist William Schimmel. Colby’s music is recorded on Innova, ICMA, SEAMUS, and UF labels, and he recently founded a non-profit arts/technology collective and recording label with wife Kristine H. Burns called everglade records (everglade.com).

His research interests include digital audio signal processing, sound synthesis and spatialization, and alternate controllers for music-making. Colby recently chaired the 30th Annual International Computer Music Conference at the Frost School of Music, and his book The Digital Audio Workstation was published by McGraw-Hill in 2004. He serves as Associate Editor for Computer Music Journal, published by the MIT Press.