Composers » C » Chris Chafe

Chafe is a composer / cellist / music researcher with an interest in computer music composition and interactive performance. He has been a long-term denizen of the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, Stanford University where he directs the center and teaches computer music courses. His doctorate in music composition was completed at Stanford in 1983 with prior degrees in music from the University of California at San Diego and Antioch College. Two year-long research periods were spent at IRCAM, and the Banff Centre for the Arts developing methods for computer sound synthesis based on physical models of musical instrument mechanics.

A current project, SoundWIRE, explores musical collaboration and network evaluation using high-speed internets for high-quality sound. He has performed his music in Europe, the Americas and Asia, and composed soundtracks for documentary films. Two recent discs of his works are available from Centaur Records. In Spring 2001, a collaboration with artist Greg Niemeyer entitled Ping was exhibited at SFMOMA and online via the Walker Art Center, and in September 2004 at Parc de la Villette, Paris. A second collaboration, Oxygen Flute, was created for the San Jose Museum of Art. A CD of music from both installations is available, entitled Extrasensory Perceptions.

[CEC / Concordia Archival Project (CAP), 2008]

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