The music of Curtis Rumrill explores the intersection of literary form and modern chamber music. His works with writer, naturalist and visual artist Zachary Webber tell darkly comic stories of animals in desperate or violent predicaments.

In May 2019 Kamratōn, Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble and Shana Simmons Dance will premiere his new opera, Her Holiness, The Winter Dog. His music has been commissioned, premiered and performed by, among others, Ensemble Dal Niente, Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, NAT 28, Kamratōn, Alia Musica, Tony Arnold, Thomas Rosenkranz, Aiyun Huang, Jordan Dodson, Kenneth Meyer, the Syracuse University Contemporary Music Ensemble, Lisa Cella and Juna Winston.

He has been performed in the United States and internationally, including Vienna, Austria; Basel and Baden, Switzerland; Maccagno, Italy; Panama City, Panama; Bogota, Colombia; Mexico City, Mexico; Boston, MA; Bloomington, IN; Cleveland, OH; Bowling Green, OH; Pittsburgh, PA; and Syracuse, NY.

In 2013 Rumrill co-founded MusicArte Panama, a new music festival in Panama City, Panama. He is also Board Chair of Alia Musica, a Pittsburgh based New Music ensemble and presenting organization.

Aside from his work in New Music, Rumrill is a committed activist for social justice. This work, a constant over the last decade and a half, has taken many forms: housing, racial justice, activist legal defense, anti-sweatshop and labor organizing.

Rumrill holds a BMus in composition from Syracuse University and a MM in composition from Bowling Green State University. He is currently a Doctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley.

Immersive electronic/experimental music composer and live performer.

My projects revolve around live performance, computer music and audiovisual composition, freelance sound design, mixing/mastering engineering, sound art, and electronic music production.

My research interests are spatial audio, extended reality and music composition, human-computer interaction, and perception.

My practice focus primarily on the development of new interfaces for musical expression in performative contexts, particularly through the integration of immersive audio and gesture-based interactions using sensors and DIY technologies. Some of my immersive fixed-media works and performances have been presented at festivals and conferences worldwide, including Ars Electronica, La Biennale di Venezia, CIRMMT, the International Computer Music Conference, Videocittà, Live Cinema Festival, the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, and many others.

My primary aim as a composer is to bring improvisation into the foreground of contemporary art music.

LUKE PAULDING (1987) is swiftly emerging as a prominent voice in Australia’s younger generation of composers. His music has been performed in the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Singapore and across much of Australia, by ensembles such as ELISION Ensemble, Speak Percussion, Ensemble Linea, Namascae Lemanic Modern Ensemble, ensemble interface, Quiver – new music ensemble, Kupka's Piano, as well as the Tasmanian & Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, with radio broadcasts on ABC Classic FM and 3MBS Fine Music. 

Luke has received support and commissions from the Australian Council for the Arts, Cybec Foundation, IETM–International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts, Royaumont Foundation, Melbourne City Council, Arts Centre Melbourne, Musical Society of Victoria, among others. Passionate about exploring other art forms, Luke has collaborated on projects for Melbourne Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Theatre Works, Aphids and Chamber Made Opera, and has attracted Green Room Award nominations for his original sound design in theatre. From notated compositions through to subterranean sound installation and collaborative art projects, Luke's music has featured at Melbourne International Arts Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Metropolis New Music Festival, Castlemaine Arts Festival and Totally Huge New Music Festival. Also a trained pianist and tubist, Luke is a founding member and co-director of new music ensemble, Quiver, dedicated to innovative performances of contemporary art music. 

Luke graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2010 with numerous awards, including the Marion Isobel Thomas Estate Award and Atheneum Prize. Through initial studies at the VCA and selective professional development programs around Australia and Europe (including the 2013 « Nouvelle Voix » course at Royaumont Abbey) his compositional mentors have included Chris Dench, Brian Ferneyhough and Liza Lim.

Followers of Tacet