Michael J. Schumacher
http://www.michaeljschumacher.com| Michael J. Schumacher (*1961 in New York, NY) is a composer, performer and installation artist based in Brooklyn, NY. He works predominantly with electronic and digital media, creating computer generated sound environments that evolve continuously for long time periods. In their realization, Schumacher uses multiple speaker configurations that relate the sounds of the installation to the architecture of the exhibition space. Architectural and acoustical considerations thereby become basic structural elements. His sound installations have been heard at festivals and venues in North America, Europe and Asia. XI Records has published a DVD set of five sound installations, playable on up to eight speakers, which may be installed on a computer to create generative sound environments in the home. Schumacher’s composition 'Grid', a computer generated score that unfolds in real time, has been in exhibitions in New York, Barcelona and Houston. His CD 'Room Pieces', also on XI Records, was rated best of 2003 for 'modern composition' by The Wire magazine. 'Living Room Pieces' an idea for integrating sound into ones daily environment, ran continuously for over one year in an apartment at the Chelsea Hotel. In 2009, Schumacher was part of the opening exhibition of the Mario Mazzoli Gallery in Berlin, one of the very few galleries specializing in sound art. In 2010 he created a building-wide installation at EMPAC in Troy, NY, that ran continuously for one year. Schumacher has composed for traditional instrumentation, including works for solo piano, pieces for a variety of chamber ensembles, song cycles, and two symphonies for full orchestra. He has been commissioned by the pianist Tomas Bächli, Sally Silvers Dance Company, the Zeitkratzer Ensemble and Transmediale, among others. Schumacher is the music director of the Liz Gerring Dance Company, with whom he has worked since 1984. Schumacher was awarded the prestigious Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts Grant in 2001. He has also received awards and residencies from NYFA, Harvestworks, Rennsellaer Polytechnic Institute, Meet the Composer, DAAD and others. Schumacher has degrees in music composition from Indiana University, where he won the composition prize in 1982, and the Juilliard School, where he earned the doctorate in 1988. His teachers have been Leonora Kogan, Pamela Vining, Toni Chekay, Stanley Applebaum, Seymour Bernstein, Giampaulo Bracali, Bernhard Heiden, John Eaton, John Ogden, Shigeo Neriki, La Monte Young and Vincent Persichetti. Born in 1961 in Washington, DC, he has lived in New York since 1983. |
Selected Works
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Sendungen im ORF-Kunstradio
01. 09. 2013: „The Episodes“ |
BIOGRAPHIES