Residency #134
JUNE 29 – JULY 19
Application Deadline: CLOSED

PROJECT RESIDENCY

MARK APPLEBAUM, music/composition/performance

Mark Applebaum (b. 1967, Chicago) is Associate Professor of Composition and Theory at Stanford University where he received the 2003 Walter J. Gores Award for excellence in teaching and served as John Philip Coghlan Fellow.  He received his Ph.D. in composition from the University of California at San Diego where he studied principally with Brian Ferneyhough.  His solo, chamber, choral, orchestral, operatic, and electroacoustic work has been performed throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, and Asia with notable performances at the Darmstadt Sessions, NIME at IRCAM, the American Composers Orchestra’s OrchestraTech, Stockholm New Music, the Bourges Festival, Sonorities in Belfast, SIGGRAPH in Los Angeles, Sonic Circuits in Hong Kong, Belgium’s TRANSIT Festival, the Essl Museum in Vienna, and the Kennedy Center.

He has received commissions from Betty Freeman, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the Fromm Foundation, the Vienna Modern Festival, the Paul Dresher Ensemble, the Meridian Arts Ensemble, Zeitgeist, MANUFACTURE (Tokyo), the Quiet Music Festival in Cork, Ireland, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Antwerp’s Champ D’Action, Festival ADEvantgarde in Munich, the Third Practice Festival, the sfSound Ensemble, the Jerome Foundation, and the American Composers Forum, among others.  Recordings of his music can be heard on the Tzadik, Innova, Capstone, SEAMUS, and Everglade labels.

In 1997 Applebaum received the American Music Center’s Stephen Albert Award and an artist residency fellowship at the Villa Montalvo artist colony in Northern California.  He has engaged in numerous intermedia collaborations, including That Brainwave Chick (with neural artist Paras Kaul), Archittetura Redux (with film-maker Iara Lee, Caipirinha Productions), Concerto for Florist and Ensemble (with florist James DelPrince), The Bible without God (with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company), Aphoristic Fragment (with animator Anna Chupa), Interactive Sound Pavilion (with architect David Perkes), Spring Migration (with choreographer Brittany Brown), and projects with the laptop DJ ensembles Digital Cutup Lounge (Hong Kong) and Tricky OL (Japan).

Since 1990 Applebaum has built electroacoustic instruments—sound-sculptures—out of junk, hardware, and found objects for use as both compositional and improvisational tools.  This research is described at length in his article for New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century, volume 4.  The visual aspect of the sound-sculptures is echoed in some of his hand-written scores that incorporate idiosyncratic glyphs and pictographs, and have been displayed in art galleries.  At present he is working on The Metaphysics of Notation, a twelve-panel score for the Stanford University Cantor Arts Center that will be displayed during 2009-2010 and invite weekly realizations by musical interpreters.

Applebaum is also active as a jazz pianist.  He has concertized from Sumatra to the Czech Republic, most recently performing a solo recital in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso sponsored by the American Embassy.  At present he performs with his father, Bob Applebaum, in the Applebaum Jazz Piano Duo.  At Stanford, Applebaum also serves as the founding director of [sic]—the Stanford Improvisation Collective.  Prior to his current appointment, Applebaum taught at UCSD, Mississippi State University, and Carleton College where he served as Dayton-Hudson Visiting Artist.

* For more information on Mark Applebaum please visit http://www.markapplebaum.com

Residency Statement:

Composers, as well as artists whose work intersects sound and other media, are very welcome.  Participants may choose to work on a project of their own design, to discuss it and receive my feedback and that of their colleague associates, to address the work in progress of others, and to enthusiastically take part in the formation of a casual artistic community of thought.  However, this residency includes several additional options, none of which are requirements: to collaborate with other composers and invent projects based on the interests and talents of those present; to work across disciplines with master artists Carole Kim and Heather Woodbury and their associates; and to take part in a final concert of works, either extant or newly composed.  Composers who work within the conventional boundaries of music are welcome to apply.  Those who identify themselves as multidisciplinary artists or experimentalists are especially encouraged.

I will make presentations and lead discussions tailored to the interests/obsessions of the associates, offer group or individual feedback sessions, arrange opportunities for associates to present their own work and ideas, offer anecdotal tips on career development, conduct a workshop on collaboration, cheerlead, and direct informal social events that aspire to bring us together as a community.   I will also have my sound-sculptures and live electronics in tow, ready to jam; improvisers—skilled or novice, with traditional instruments or unique ones—are welcome to join.

While the residency is designed to engender interaction, ample time will be left for artists to advance their own work.

Application Requirements

• A concise portfolio of works—recordings and, as appropriate, corresponding scores.  (If you send many works, please list them by a perceived hierarchy of relevance.)
• CV/resume.
• Optional items include an artistic statement, a brief account of why this residency appeals to you, a list of special skills or interests that might be employed during the residency, and, if applicable, an explanation of how your work is multidisciplinary.