Edmund Campion
 
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Edmund Campion is a Professor of Music Composition (since 1996) and Co-Director at the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT) 2014-24) at the University of California, Berkeley. An active composer, performing artist, and collaborating artist for over 30 years, he continues to produce highly personal music that often mixes emerging technologies with acoustic instruments and electronic sounds. The Interpretations Series at Roulette presented a portrait concert in 2019, with newly commissioned pieces premiered at the Emprientes Festival in Lyon, France, and a premiere with David Milnes and the ECO Ensemble at Cal Performances in 2023. Throughout his career, Campion has collaborated with some truly amazing artists and composers who share an interest in pushing the envelope on what is possible in art and culture. In 2015, the Ensemble Intercontemporain co-commissioned Campion and audiovisual artist Kurt Hentschläger for the 25-minute, Cluster X. As a 2016 Guggenheim Fellow, Mr. Campion composed for the Contemporary Gugak Orchestra, an ensemble of 50 musicians performing on ancient Korean instruments. The multi-media work was premiered at the Philharmonie de Paris and toured the United States. He has worked on numerous pieces with the digital artist Claudia Hart including the Alice series and the video piece Recumulations, acquired by the Whitney Museum in 2020. Edmund Campion and John Campion have worked on several pieces that merge language and sound through the lens of brother John's poetry and philosophies. Campion is the recipient of numerous accolades including, the American Rome Prize (1994), the Lili Boulanger Prize (1993), The Paul Fromm Award at Tanglewood (1992), and the American Academy in Rome, Goddard Lieberson Fellowship. Other commissions include the 2011 Commande d’etat for Wavelike and Diverse, written for Les Percussion des Strasbourg and released on the ensembles 50th anniversary Universal CD collection; Auditory Fiction (2011), commissioned by Société Générale for Radio France; Small Wonder (The Butterfly Effect) (2012), commissioned by the Serge Koussevitzky Foundation for the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players; Auditory Fiction II (2014), written for the ECO Ensemble for the Venice Music Biennale. His music is heard on concert stages throughout the world including recent commissions for the Ensemble Sillages in France, the Drumming Ensemble in Portugal, and premieres by soloist Marilyn Nonken and the Nonken/Laufer piano duo. ___________________ 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 he spent 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, and most recently performed in 2022 by the percussionist Sae Hashimoto at the Stone in New York City. 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 released a recording of Wavelike and Diverse on their 50th Anniversary CD collection.  

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.