Pamela Z (born 1956) is an American composer, performer, and media artist who is best known for her solo works for voice with electronic processing. In performance, she combines various vocal sounds including operatic bel canto, experimental

extended techniques In music, extended technique is unconventional, unorthodox, or non-traditional methods of singing or of playing musical instruments employed to obtain unusual sounds or timbres.Burtner, Matthew (2005).Making Noise: Extended Techniques after Exper ...

and spoken word, with samples and sounds generated by manipulating found objects. Z's musical aesthetic is one of sonic accretion, and she typically processes her voice in real time through the software program Max on a MacBook Pro as a means of layering, looping, and altering her live vocal sound. Her performance work often includes video projections and special controllers with sensors that allow her to use physical gestures to manipulate the sound and projected media.

Biography

Born 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 Sou ...

, and raised in the Denver Metro area, Pamela Z received her bachelor's degree in music from the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

(1978), where she studied classical voice. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she worked as a singer/songwriter on voice and guitar throughout Colorado under the name Pam Brooks. She began experimenting with digital delay and reverb to process her voice in the early 1980s and started composing works involving live looping.Malloy, Judy. ‘‘Women, Art, and Technology’’ “Pamela Z: A Tool is a Tool”, Leonardo/The MIT Press 2003, pp. 350 In 1984 she relocated to San Francisco where she legally changed her last name to Z and became active in the San Francisco Bay Area contemporary music and

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

scene. Throughout the late 1980s and the 90s, she continued to create solo voice and electronics performances, and gained visibility through her appearances in Bay Area new music performance venues, theaters, and art galleries. She began touring her work nationally and internationally and, by the year 2000, she was performing regularly in New York, Europe, and Japan. Z has performed in such festivals as Bang on a Can at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

in New York, the Interlink Festival in Japan, Other Minds in San Francisco, La Biennale di Venezia in Venice, Italy, and Pina Bausch Tanztheater's Festival in Wuppertal, Germany. In addition to her solo voice and electronics works, Z has composed chamber works commissioned by contemporary music soloists and ensembles such as

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...

, the Bang on a Can All Stars, Eighth Blackbird, flautist Claire Chase, the New York string quartet ETHEL, Del Sol Quartet, The California EAR Unit, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, and Orchestra of St. Luke's. She has also composed scores for modern dance choreographers including

Stephan Koplowitz Stephan Koplowitz is a director and choreographer and media artist specializing in site-specific multimedia performances. Since the 1980s, Koplowitz, an international site artist and former Dean of Dance at CalArts, has dedicated himself to site ...

, Brenda Way (

ODC Dance ODC, formerly the Oberlin Dance Collective, is a contemporary dance and arts organization founded in 1971, in Oberlin, Ohio, by current artistic director Brenda Way. ODC relocated to San Francisco in 1976 and in 1979 became the first modern dance ...

), Jo Kreiter (Flyaway Productions), and Mary Armentrout. In addition, she has composed and recorded film scores for independent filmmakers including Barbara Hammer, Lynne Sachs, Jeanne C. Finley and John Muse.

Recordings

Studio Recordings of several of Pamela Z's signature pieces appear on her 2004 solo CD, '' A Delay is Better'' on the

Starkland Starkland is an independent record label based in Boulder, Colorado that specializes in alternative classical music. It was founded in 1991 by Thomas Steenland. Starkland's first two CDs offered all the principal 1960s music from the "organized s ...

label. In addition, a number of her works have been released on various experimental music and sound art compilations including her "Declaratives In First Person" on '' Crosstalk: American Speech Music'' a 2008 (Bridge Records) compilation produced by Mendi + Keith Obadike, and ‘’Geekspeak’’, which appears both on ''Sonic Circuits IV'', a 1996

Innova Recordings Innova Recordings is the independent record label of the non-profit American Composers Forum based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1982 to document the winners of the McKnight Fellowship offered by its parent organization, the Minnesot ...

compilation and on ''Bitstreams'', a

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

collection of works from a 2001 sound exhibition curated by

Stephen Vitiello Stephen Vitiello is an American visual and sound artist. Originally a punk guitarist he is influenced by video artist Nam June Paik who he worked with after meeting in 1991. He has collaborated with Pauline Oliveros, Robin Rimbaud (aka Scanner) and ...

. Z also recorded a track for

Meredith Monk Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942) is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recordin ...

’s 2012 tribute CD ''Monk Mix''– performing a voice and electronics arrangement of Monk’s ‘’Scared Song’’.

Other work

Pamela Z has created fixed-media sound works for radio and new media installations for art galleries. She has had solo exhibitions at fine arts institutions including the

Krannert Art Museum The Krannert Art Museum (KAM) is a fine art museum located at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, Illinois, United States. It has of space devoted to all periods of art, dating from ancient Egypt to contemporary photography ...

(Champaign, Il), Savvy Contemporary (Berlin), Trondheim Elektroniske Kunstsenter (Trondheim, Norway), the Fine Arts Center Galleries at Bowling Green State University, and the Chico University Art Gallery (Chico, CA), and her installations have been shown in group exhibitions including ''Dak’Art'' ( Dakar Biennale, Sénégal), ''Bitstreams'' (

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

), ''side by side/in the world'' (

San Francisco Arts Commission The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) is the City agency that champions the arts as essential to daily life by investing in a vibrant arts community, enlivening the urban environment and shaping innovative cultural policy in San Francisco, Cali ...

Gallery, ''Walkmen'' (Erzbischöfliches Diözesanmuseum, Cologne, Germany) and the

McColl Center for Visual Art McColl Center (formerly McColl Center for Art + Innovation) is an artist residency and contemporary art space located at 721 North Tryon Street in Charlotte, North Carolina.Sam Green's

The Weather Underground The Weather Underground was a Far-left politics, far-left militant organization first active in 1969, founded on the Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. Originally known as the Weathermen, the group was organiz ...

(2002), Hrabba Gunnarsdottir's Alive in Limbo, and the Bay Area

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

affiliate KQED's weekly arts television program Spark.

Honors and awards

Z has received numerous awards including the

United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...

fellowship (2020), the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

Walter Hinrichsen Award (2020), the

Rome Prize The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Prizes have been awarded annually since 1921, with a hiatus ...

(2019), the Guggenheim Fellowship (2004);

Doris Duke Performing Artist Award The Doris Duke Artist Award is undertaken by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and designed to "empower, invest in and celebrate artists by offering multi-year, unrestricted funding as a response to financial and funding challenges both unique t ...

in theater (2015); the CalArts

Alpert Award in the Arts The Alpert Award in the Arts was established in the 1994 by The Herb Alpert Foundation in collaboration with the California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, Cali ...

(1998); the

Creative Capital Creative Capital is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in New York City that supports artists across the United States through funding, counsel, gatherings, and career development services. Since its founding in 1999, Creative Capital has commi ...

Fund (2002); the ASCAP Music Award (2000-2017); the MAP Fund (2009 and 2012); a SEAMUS Lifetime Achievement Award (2016), and the NEA and Japan/US Friendship Commission Fellowship (1998). In 2008 she was honored as Alumna of the Year by the

College of Music, and she received a

Prix Ars Electronica The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the best known and longest running yearly prizes in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music. It has been awarded since 1987 by Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria) ...

honorable mention (Linz, Austria) in the Digital Musics Category. In 2017, she was a Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Artist in Residence.

Discography

* ''Echolocation'', (solo album) (1987) ZED, CS * ''Pearls, the Gem of the Sea'' on " Komotion International Vol. 11", compilation, (1991) Spirit Records, LP, CD, CS * ''State'' on "State of the Union", (compilation produced by Elliott Sharp), (1992) Arrest, CD AR003 * ''In Tymes of Olde'' (Z) and ''Obsession, Additiction and the Aristotelian Curve'' (Z and Imhoff) on "From A to Z" compilation, (1993)

, CD ST-203 * ''Bald Boyfriend'' performed by The Qube Chix on "Dice" compilation, (1993) Ishtar, CD 001 * ''Geekspeak'' on "Sonic Circuits IV" compilation, (1996) Innova Recordings, CD 113 * ''Parts'' and ''Questions/Trip'' on "Dice 2" compilation, (1996) Ishtar, CD 002 * ''Caught'' on "Emergency Music" compilation, (1998) CRI, CD-770 * ''Geekspeak'' on "Bitstreams", compilation curated by Stephen Vitiello, (2001) Whitney Museum of American Art, CD * ''50 for Charles Amirkhanian'' on "Homo Sonorus" compilation, (2001) Kunstradio, CD * ''No. 3'' on "Visions", compilation, (2002) EMIT Series, CD * '' A Delay is Better'', (solo album) (2004) Starkland, CD ST-213 * ''Live/Work'' on "IMMERSION" compilation, (2000) Starkland, 5.1 surround DVD-audio ST-2010 *

Peter Kowald Peter Kowald (21 April 1944 – 21 September 2002) was a German free jazz and free improvising double bassist and tubist. Career A member of the Globe Unity Orchestra, and a touring double-bass player, Kowald collaborated with many European ...

''Movements I, II, & III'' (Kowald, Gottschalk, and Z) on "Global Village Trio", (2004) Free Elephant, CD -001 * ''Pop Titles 'You on "Deep Wireless 2: New Adventures in Sound Art", (2005) CD * John Cage ''Postcard From Heaven'', (Victoria Jordanova: harps, Pamela Z: voices), (2006) Arpaviva, CD -001 * Ethel ''Ethel Dreams of Temporal Disturbances'' (Z) on "Light", (2006) Cantaloupe, CD CA20137 * '' Still Life with Commentator'' with

Vijay Iyer Vijay Iyer (born October 26, 1971) is an American composer, pianist, bandleader, producer and writer based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' has called him a "social conscience, multimedia collaborator, system builder, rhapsodist, histori ...

and

Mike Ladd Mike Ladd is an American hip hop musician from Boston, Massachusetts. He is based in Paris, France. ''The Guardian'' described him as "the king of the hip-hop concept." Early life Mike Ladd was born in Boston, Massachusetts. As a child, he live ...

(2007) Savoy Jazz *Lisle Ellis ''Sucker Punch Requiem'' (Lisle Ellis: bass, Pamela Z: voice & electronics, Oliver Lake: saxophones, George Lewis: trombone, Holly Hoffman: flutes, Mike Wofford: piano, Susie Ibarra: drums & percussion), (2008) Henceforth, CD 616892911227 * ''Declaratives In First Person'' on "Crosstalk: American Speech Music" compilation produced by Mendi & Keith Obadike, (2008) Bridge Records, CD 9285 *

''Scared Song'' (composed: Meredith Monk, arr. & performed: Z) on "Monk Mix", (2012) House Foundation for the Arts, CD * '' Holding It Down: The Veterans' Dreams Project'' (2013) (Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd)

Bibliography

* Gann, Kyle ''American Music in the Twentieth Century'' (Schirmer Books, 1997) , p. 383 * Borger, Irene. (1999). “The Force of Curiosity” (Interview with Pamela Z). California Institute of the Arts. pp. 299–323. *Harris, Craig, ed. (1999). “Art and Innovation” (Michael Black, David Levy, and Pamela Z "Artscience Sciencart") The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA/London, England. . pp. 210–247 *Wilson, Stephen. (2002). ''Information Arts: Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology'' (Gesture: Pamela Z). MIT Press, Cambridge MA/ London, England. . pp. 745–746 *Bulatov, Dmitry, ed. (2001). ''Homo Sonorus An International Anthology of Sound Poetry ''. (Pamela Z, USA) The National Center for Contemporary Art, Kaliningrad Branch, Russia. *Malloy, Judy, ed. (2003). ''Women in New Media''. (Pamela Z: “A Tool is a Tool”) MIT Press, Cambridge MA/London England. . pp. 343–361 *Gray, Herman S. (2004). ''Cultural Moves: African Americans and the Politics of Representation''. American Crossroads. . *Rothenberg, David. (2005). '' Why Birds Sing ''. Basic Books. . pp. 203–204 * Uitti, Francis-Marie. “Pamela Z”, ''Contemporary Music Review: IMPROVISATION '', Routledge (Taylor & Francis), Edinburgh Vol. 25, Nos 5/6 (October/December 2006), pp. 587–589. * Lewis, George. “The Virtual Discourses of Pamela Z ” '' Journal of the Society for American Music '', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge MA, Vol. 1, No. 1, (February 2007), pp. 57–77. *Lane, Cathy (2008). '' Playing with Words, The spoken word in artistic practice''. CRISAP, RGAP Distributed in the U.K. and Europe by Cornerhouse Publications. , pages 34–36 * Rodgers, Tara. (2010). ''Pink Noises: Women on Electronic Music and Sound'' (Pamela Z, Language, Machines, Embodiment) Duke University Press Books, . *Garrett, Charles Hiroshi, ed. (2013). '' The Grove Dictionary of American Music '' (Pamela Z). Oxford University Press. . *Kelly, Jennifer. (2013). '' In Her Own Words: Conversations with Composers in the United States ''. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield. . pp. 210–227 *Raines, Robert. (2015). '' Composition in the Digital World: Conversations with 21st Century American Composers ''. Oxford University Press, New York, NY. . pp. 306–316 *Da Rin, Renate (author), Parker, William (author/editor). (2015). '' giving birth to sound - women in creative music ''. Buddy's Knife, Köln, Germany. . pp. 271–280 * Rutherford-Johnson, Tim (author). (2017). '' Music after the Fall: Modern Composition and Culture since 1989 ''. Simpson Imprint in Humanities-University of California Press, Oakland, CA. . * Chiriacò, Gianpaolo. (2018). ''Voci Neri''. Mimesis/Eterotopie, Sesto San Giovanni, MI. . pp. 195–201 * Voegelin, Salomé. (2018). ''Fragments of Listening: The Political Possibility of Sound''. Bloomsbury Academic, London, UK. . * Gaston-Bird, Leslie. (2020). ''Women in Audio''. Routledge, New York, NY. . pp. 131–135

External links

official Pamela Z website

commissioned by

''A Delay Is Better''
on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Z, Pamela 1956 births 20th-century American composers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century classical composers 20th-century women composers 21st-century American composers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century classical composers 21st-century women composers African-American classical composers American classical composers African-American women classical composers 20th-century African-American women singers American contemporary classical composers American electronic musicians American women classical composers American women in electronic music Avant-garde singers Classical musicians from New York (state) Contemporary classical music performers Electroacoustic music composers Living people Musicians from Buffalo, New York University of Colorado Boulder alumni Singers from Denver Women in classical music 21st-century African-American women singers