Sound art
Program's curator foreword
Michael J. Schumacher
Michael J. Schumacher is a composer, performer and installation artist based in New York City.
He works predominantly with electronic and digital media, specializing in computer generated sound environments that evolve continuously for long time periods. In their realization, Schumacher uses multiple speaker configurations that relate the sounds of the installation to the architecture of the exhibition space. Architectural and acoustical considerations thereby become basic structural elements.
Schumacher’s sound installations have been heard at Art in General, Apex Art, PS 1, The Kitchen and Sculpture Center in New York City, CCNOA in Brussels, Singuhr Gallery and Tesla in Berlin, the Museum for Applied Arts in Frankfurt , the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lyon, Triskel Arts Center in Cork, Ireland, Transmissions Festival in Chicago, Tone Deaf in Kingston, Ontario, The Sound Art Museum in Rome, )toon) Festival in Haarlem, RADAR in Mexico City, Ostrava Music Days and others. XI Records has published a DVD set of five sound installations as computer applications, playable on up to eight speakers, which may be installed on a computer to create sound environments in the home. Schumacher’s composition “Grid”, a computer generated score that unfolds in real time, has been in exhibitions in New York, Barcelona and Houston. His CD "Room Pieces", also on XI Records, was rated best of 2003 for “modern composition” by The Wire magazine.
Schumacher has composed for traditional instrumentation, including works for solo piano, pieces for a variety of chamber ensembles, song cycles, and two symphonies for full orchestra. He has been commissioned by the pianist Tomas Baechli, Sally Silvers Dance Company, and the Zeitkratzer Ensemble of Berlin, among others. Since 1984, Schumacher has composed for the Liz Gerring Dance Company.
In August 2007 Schumacher and Nisi Jacobs began DRAW, an audio-video performance group. Joined by Tim Keiper, Alex Waterman, Bruce Andrews and others, they create immersive live sets based on collaborative compositions. DRAW’s website is http://drawnyc.com.
Schumacher has lectured at Bard College, The New School, The School for Visual Arts and Juilliard. He has taught piano, composition, theory and ear training privately since 1983. He currently teaches at Polytechnic Institute of NYU in Brooklyn.
