Michael Pisaro (born 1961 in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

) is a guitarist and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. A member of the

Wandelweiser The Wandelweiser Group is a composition school, collective for composers and performers of contemporary classical music. Inspired by the work of John Cage, the Wandelweiser Group writes experimental music, which is typically of a very quiet nature ...

Composers Ensemble, he has composed over 80 works for a great variety of instrumental combinations, including several pieces for variable instrumentation.

Works

A particularly large category of Pisaro's works are solo works, notably a series of 36 pieces (grouped into 6 longer works) for the three-year, 156-concert series organized by Carlo Inderhees at the Zionskirche in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

-Mitte from 1997-1999. Another solo piece, ''pi (1-2594)'', was performed in installments by the composer on 15 selected days in February 1999, in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

, in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

in 2000-2001 and at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2009 (with Philip Thomas, pianist). Pisaro has also devoted works to poets including among others, his ''harmony series'', which functions as both a kind of poetic anthology and a collection of indeterminate scores, and ''July Mountain'' which is a translation of the poem of the same name by Wallace Stevens, into a score for field recordings and several layers of percussion. ''Reading Spinoza'' is an accompanied reading of the Fifth Book of Baruch Spinoza's ''Ethics.'' Much of Pisaro's recent work for percussion has been recorded by frequent collaborator Greg Stuart. Another recent interest has been in field recording, which began to be represented in Pisaro's ''Transparent City'' (2004-2006).

International

His work is frequently performed in the U.S. and in Europe, in music festivals and in many smaller venues. It has been selected twice by the

ISCM The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music. The organization was established in Salzburg in 1922 as Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) following the ...

jury for performance at World Music Days festivals (Copenhagen,1996; Manchester, 1998) and has also been part of festivals in Hong Kong (ICMC, 1998), Vienna (Wien Modern,1997),

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China ...

(1991), Chicago (New Music Chicago, 1990, 1991), Glasgow (INSTAL, 2009), Berlin (

MaerzMusik MaerzMusik is a festival of the Berliner Festspiele and has been held annually since 2002 in March at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and other venues. It is the successor festival to the Musik-Biennale Berlin and is considered one of the most im ...

, 2010), Sonorités (Montpellier, 2011) and others. He has held composer residencies in Germany (Künstlerhof Schreyahn), Switzerland (Forumclaque/Baden), Israel (Miskenot Sha'ananmim), Greece (EarTalk) and in the U.S. (Birch Creek Music Festival/Wisconsin). Concert length portraits of his music have been given in Munich, Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, Mexico City, Seattle, Jerusalem, Madrid, Santiago, Vienna, New York, Brussels, Curitiba (Brazil), Berlin, Chicago, Düsseldorf, Zürich, Charleston, Toronto, Cologne,

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the dis ...

and elsewhere. His scores are published by

Edition Wandelweiser The Wandelweiser Group is a collective for composers and performers of contemporary classical music. Inspired by the work of John Cage, the Wandelweiser Group writes experimental music, which is typically of a very quiet nature and often incor ...

(Germany). Recordings of his work (solo and collaborative) have been released by Edition Wandelweiser Records, Winds Measure Recordings,

Erstwhile Records Erstwhile Records is an independent record label devoted to free improvisation, particularly the electroacoustic variety, contemporary, experimental composed music, and combinations of both. Erstwhile was founded by Jon Abbey in 1999, whose perso ...

Another Timbre Another Timbre is a record label, based in Sheffield and known for its releases of free improvisation, experimental and contemporary classical music. It was founded by television sound recordist Simon Reynell, who also engineers and produces most ...

, slubmusic, Cathnor, Potlatch, HEM Berlin, Bánh Mì Verlag and on Pisaro's own imprint, Gravity Wave. He has performed many of his own works and those of close associates Antoine Beuger, Kunsu Shim,

Jürg Frey Jürg Frey (born 15 May 1953) is a Swiss composer and clarinettist. He is a member of the Wandelweiser, Wandelweiser Group. Biography Jürg Frey was born in 1953 in Aarau, Switzerland. He studied clarinet in Conservatoire de Musique de Genève, ...

and Manfred Werder, as well as works from the experimental tradition, especially

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

, Christian Wolff,

Robert Ashley Robert Reynolds Ashley (March 28, 1930 – March 3, 2014) was an American composer, who was best known for his television operas and other theatrical works, many of which incorporate electronics and extended techniques. His works often involve ...

and

George Brecht George Brecht (August 27, 1926 – December 5, 2008), born George Ellis MacDiarmid, was an American conceptual artist and avant-garde composer, as well as a professional chemist who worked as a consultant for companies including Pfizer, Johnson ...

. Before joining the composition faculty at the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

(where he is located presently), he taught

music composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called c ...

and

theory A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be s ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

from 1986 to 2000. Pisaro received a 2005-2006

Foundation for Contemporary Arts The Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA), is a nonprofit based foundation in New York City that offers financial support and recognition to contemporary performing and visual artists through awards for artistic innovation and potential. It was ...

Grants to Artists Award.

References

External links

Pisaro's label, Gravity WaveCalArts: Michael Pisaro
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pisaro, Michael 1961 births Living people Experimental composers Musicians from Buffalo, New York Male classical composers 20th-century American male musicians