~ICMC 2015 - Sept. 25 - Oct. 1, 2015 - CEMI, University of North Texas
Peabody Computer Music: 46 Years of Looking to the Future
Dr. Geoffrey Wright
Peabody Computer Music
[email protected]
Dr. McGregor Boyle
Peabody Computer Music
[email protected]
Mr. Joshua Armenta
Peabody Computer Music
[email protected]
Mr. Ryan Woodward
Peabody Computer Music
[email protected] x
ABSTRACT
There are many significant firsts in the history of Peabody
Computer Music (PCM). It is the first electronic and computer music studio in a conservatory in the United States [1].
Peabody itself is the first conservatory of music in the U.S.,
[1] and our parent institution, the Johns Hopkins University,
is America'sfirst research university [2].
For 46 years PCM has been training highly-skilled musicians to use computers and technology for composition, performance, and music-related research. We work within the
context of a conservatory that prizes the great accomplishments of the past even as we develop new musical vocabularies and techniques for the expressive musician of the future.
New dean Fred Bronstein is a vital force in leading the oldest music conservatory in the U.S. into the 21st century [3].
One of his first actions was to host a university-wide symposium "What's Next for Classical Music?" [4], [5].
PCM reaches out to new international and inter-institutional
collaborations. Of particular promise is the new collaboration between Peabody, Johns Hopkins and the Maryland Institute College of Art under the artistic direction of digital
pioneer Thomas Dolby, recently named the first Homewood
Professor of the Arts. This new enterprise, dubbed "Station
North Arts", will bring together film, composition, recording
arts, and computer music [6].
1. LOOKING BACK
On January 31, 2011, The Peabody Conservatory of the Johns
Hopkins University produced a memorial concert for Jean
Eichelberger Ivey. Ivey, the founder of the Electronic Music Studio at Peabody, had passed away the previous Spring
(May 2, 2010). The concert featured three of her compositions: Cortege for Charles Kent (a tape piece which was the
fist piece created in the Peabody Electronic Music Studio),
Aldebaran (for viola and tape), and Skaniadaryo (for piano
Copyright: 02015 Dr. Geoffrey Wright et al. This is an open-access article
distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0
Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Ms. Sunhuimei Xia
Peabody Computer Music
[email protected]
and tape). In addition, there were compositions by three of
her former students: McGregor Boyle, Scott Pender, and Geoffrey Wright. In between the performances friends and former students of Ivey shared their memories of her-resulting in
a touching tribute to this wonderful composer, teacher, mentor, and friend.
Figure 1. The George Peabody Library
1.1 46 Years of Looking to the Future
The history of Electronic Music at Peabody can be traced
back to a series of summer workshops in Electronic Music.
These workshops, taught by Dr. Ivey, began in 1967, and focused on electronic music in the K-12 curriculum. Peabody's
Electronic Music department was officially founded when Peabody
purchased its first Moog modular analog synthesizer (Model
10) in 1969, and conservatory classes commenced. Robert
Moog himself delivered the synthesizer to Peabody, and helped
set the unit up.
For several years the Moog along with three analog twochannel tape recorders, Bode filters, microphones, and other
analog signal processors made up the essence of the studio.
The purchase of a second, larger Moog (Model 55) in 1977
and the addition of analog four-channel and eight-channel
machines expanded the studio's capabilities tremendously. The
Moog synthesizers have been carefully maintained and are
used regularly for educational and production purposes. This
year the Moog 55 was again overhauled, meticulously restored, and has been kept in pristine condition ever since.
Geoffrey Wright arrived at Peabody in 1976. The affilia
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