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Annie Gosfield

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Born 1960, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Composer

My compositions often explore the inherent beauty of non-musical sounds, and are

inspired by diverse sources such as machines, destroyed pianos, warped 78 records,

and detuned radios. Lost Signals and Drifting Satellites, composed for solo violin and

satellite sounds, was inspired by Sputnik and the blips and bleeps that it broadcast as

it tumbled across the night sky. EWA7 is a site-specific work developed during a six-

week residency in the factories of Nuremberg, Germany. Composed for my ensemble,

EWA7 incorporates sampled machine sounds, factory metals, improvisation, and

industrial environments. Flying Sparks and Heavy Machinery, for string quartet and

percussion quartet, is also based on my research in the factory, but notated and

adapted for the concert hall.

My life as a composer is divided between composing more traditionally notated work

for ensembles and soloists, and performing music that incorporates improvisation,

noise, and open structures with my own group. Improvisation has taught me to

consider all musical possibilities, and given me a much freer mindset in composing.

New works are often inspired by performers: working closely with musicians has

helped me keep composition a dynamic, collaborative process. In recent years, the

balance of my work has shifted towards notated music. This mysterious language,

these odd little dots on the page and what they become, keep me in their thrall (rl:

esclavitud), and help me negotiate the fine line between music and noise.

2007 Visiting Professor of Composition, Princeton University

2005, 2003 Milhaud Chair of Composition, Mills College

1999 Visiting Artist, California Institute of the Arts

SELECTED CD RELEASES

2004 Lost Signals and Drifting Satellites*, solo and chamber compositions, (Tzadik

8007)

2001 Flying Sparks and Heavy Machinery, compositions inspired by industrialenvironments, (Tzadik 7069)

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1998 Burnt Ivory and Loose Wires, pieces for detuned piano and altered instruments,

(Tzadik 7040)

SELECTED WORKS

2008-2009 Floating Messages and Fading Frequencies, a multi-media opera inspired

by the radio transmissions of the Danish Resistance in WWII, commissioned by the

Danish Arts Council, Copenhagen and Esbjerg, Denmark

2007-2008 Almost Truths and Open Deceptions, cello concerto for Felix Fan and the

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra under Kent Nagano, commissioned by the Jerome

Foundation, Mary Flagler Charitable Trust, and the American Composers Forum

2000 Flying Sparks and Heavy Machinery, for string quartet and percussion quartet,

inspired by factory and industrial sound environments, commissioned by theOtherMinds Festival, the American Composers Forum, and the Jerome Foundation,

Artaud Theatre, OtherMinds Festival, San Francisco, CA

1999 EWA7, a site-specific concert-length piece developed during a residency in the

factories of Nuremberg, Germany, commissioned by the Siemens Kulturprogramm

1995 The Manufacture of Tangled Ivory, quartet version premiered by the Annie

Gosfield Ensemble at the Festival of Radical Jewish Culture, Knitting Factory, New York,

NY; quintet version premiered by the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Lincoln Center for

Performing Arts, New York, NY

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

2007 The Score. New York, NY: The New York Times TimesSelect, (four articles on the

compositional process, http://thescore.blogs.nytimes.com/author/agosfield/)

SELECTED AWARDS

2007 Meet the Composer Commissioning USA Award

2006 Danish Arts Council's DaNY Arts Award

2004, 2000 New York Foundation for the Arts Artist's Fellowship in Music Composition

1999 Siemens Kulturprogramm'sArtWorks Residency

http://www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/grant_recipients/annie.html

http://thescore.blogs.nytimes.com/author/agosfield/)http://thescore.blogs.nytimes.com/author/agosfield/)