Edmund Campion
 
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Edmund Campion’s music explores relationships between sound and space—creations that often involve the careful mixing of acoustic instruments with emerging computer technologies. Born in Dallas, Texas in 1957, he studied composition at the University of Texas and Columbia University and went on to spend several years in France studying with composer Gérard Grisey. In 1993 he was selected to work at IRCAM where he composed the piece Losing Touch, a mainstay in the repertoire for percussion and electronics. He has been commissioned by major American and French cultural institutions including: IRCAM, Radio France, the French Ministry of Culture, the Fromm Foundation, and the Koussevitzky Music Foundation. His works are heard in concert halls worldwide and a monograph CD by the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players is available on Albany records. Les Percussion des Strasbourg sextet will release a recording of Wavelike and Diverse on their upcoming CD. In 2012, he was awarded the Goddard Lieberson Fellowship by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and appointed Composer in Residence with the Santa Rosa Symphony. A new work written for the Kronos Quartet and the SRS will be premiered in October of 2012.

The French Zelig Ensemble premiered a commission from Radio France at the Festival Presence in 2009 and recently commissioned a new work from Soiciete Generale. The new piece, Auditory Fiction, was premeriered by Cal Performances in 2010 and features a new software tool for control of multiple tempos in live performance. Joshua Kosman wrote, "Campion keeps clarity and even beauty at the fore -- the results were remarkable." The Argento Chamber ensemble premiered Campion's 25' minute digital piano concerto with 17 instruments and computer as part of the Moving Sounds Festival in New York City in 2010. In 1996 he was commissioned by IRCAM to write a large-scale piece for interactive electronics and MIDI-grand piano. Natural Selection received its premiere with the composer at the piano. After his return from Paris, Campion joined the composition faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is also Co-Director at the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT). Other prizes and honors include: the Rome Prize, the Nadia Boulanger Award, the Paul Fromm Award at Tanglewood, a Charles Ives Award given by the Americah Academy of Arts and Letters, and a Fulbright scholarship for study in France.