Charles Amirkhanian
Encyclopedia
Charles Amirkhanian is an American
composer
. He is a percussionist, sound poet, and radio producer of Armenian
extraction. He is mostly known for his electroacoustic
and text-sound
music. Performance artist Laurie Anderson praises his work: "The art of audio collage
has been reinvented here...A brilliant sense of imaginary space."
's KPFA
-FM in Berkeley, California
from 1969 to 1992; he directs the Other Minds
Music Festival in San Francisco
. He has played a key role in recording and championing the work of Conlon Nancarrow
, among others.
In 1984, the American Music Center awarded him its Letter of Distinction for service to American composers through his work at KPFA FM in Berkeley, California. This was followed in 2005 by another for his co-founding and directing the Other Minds
Festival in San Francisco, California. From ASCAP in 1989 he received the Deems Taylor Award, also for service to American composers. As a composer he was awarded a grant in 1997 from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts
in New York City. In 2009, Chamber Music America and ASCAP honored him for his Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music with Other Minds.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. He is a percussionist, sound poet, and radio producer of Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
extraction. He is mostly known for his electroacoustic
Electroacoustic music
Electroacoustic music originated in Western art music during its modern era following the incorporation of electric sound production into compositional practice. The initial developments in electroacoustic music composition during the mid-20th century are associated with the activities of composers...
and text-sound
Sound poetry
Sound poetry is an artistic form bridging between literary and musical composition, in which the phonetic aspects of human speech are foregrounded instead of more conventional semantic and syntactic values; "verse without words"...
music. Performance artist Laurie Anderson praises his work: "The art of audio collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
has been reinvented here...A brilliant sense of imaginary space."
Career
Amirkhanian was Music Director of Pacifica RadioPacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio is the oldest public radio network in the United States. It is a group of five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations that is known for its progressive/liberal political orientation. It is also a program service supplying over 100 affiliated...
's KPFA
KPFA
KPFA is a listener-funded progressive talk radio and music radio station located in Berkeley, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KPFA airs public news, public affairs, talk, and music programming. The station signed on-the-air April 15 1949, as the first Pacifica Station...
-FM in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
from 1969 to 1992; he directs the Other Minds
Other Minds
Other Minds is a San Francisco based private 501 not-for-profit organization, founded in 1992 by Charles Amirkhanian and Jim Newman...
Music Festival in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. He has played a key role in recording and championing the work of Conlon Nancarrow
Conlon Nancarrow
Conlon Nancarrow was a United States-born composer who lived and worked in Mexico for most of his life. He became a Mexican citizen in 1955.Nancarrow is best remembered for the pieces he wrote for the player piano...
, among others.
In 1984, the American Music Center awarded him its Letter of Distinction for service to American composers through his work at KPFA FM in Berkeley, California. This was followed in 2005 by another for his co-founding and directing the Other Minds
Other Minds
Other Minds is a San Francisco based private 501 not-for-profit organization, founded in 1992 by Charles Amirkhanian and Jim Newman...
Festival in San Francisco, California. From ASCAP in 1989 he received the Deems Taylor Award, also for service to American composers. As a composer he was awarded a grant in 1997 from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Foundation for Contemporary Arts , originally known as Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, is a nonprofit based foundation in New York City founded by artists Jasper Johns , John Cage, Elaine de Kooning and others in 1963. FCA offers financial support and recognition to contemporary...
in New York City. In 2009, Chamber Music America and ASCAP honored him for his Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music with Other Minds.
Discography
- 10+2: 12 American Text-Sound Pieces (1975). 1750 Arch Records S-1752 (LP) reissued in 2003 on Other Minds/CD 1006-2 compilation which includes Amirkhanian's 'Just (1972)' and 'Heavy Aspirations (1973)
- Lexical Music (1979). 1750 Arch Records S-1779 (LP)
- Polipoetry Issues Numero 3: American Sound Poetry (1983). 3Vitre – EM 00383 (limited edition 7" LP) Compilation containing Amirkhanian's 'The Putts'
- Mental Radio: Nine Text-Sound Compositions (1985). CRI-SD 523 (LP); reissued in 2009 on New World Records NWCRL 523 (CD)
- Perspectives of New Music PNM 26 (1988). Compilation CD accompanying Volume 26 issue of Perspectives of New Music magazine. Contains: Pas de Voix (Portrait of Samuel Beckett)
- Walking Tune (1998). Starkland ST-206. "One of the Year's 20 Best CDs," according to the Electronic Music FoundationElectronic Music FoundationElectronic Music Foundation is a not-for-profit 501 organization that produces events, publishes and disseminates media and information, and provides access to materials relevant to the history and creative potential of electronic music....
.
Partial List of Works (tape works unless otherwise noted; † with optional live voice(s))
- Symphony I (for 13 players, 1965)
- Words (1969)
- Oratora Konkurso Rezulto: Autoro de la Jaro (Portrait of Lou Harrison, 1970)
- If In Is (1971)
- Radii (1970/2)
- Dzarin Bess Ga Khorim (1972)
- Heavy Aspirations (1973)
- Seatbelt Seatbelt (1973)
- Roussier (not Rouffier) (1973)
- Mugic (1973)
- she she and she (1974)
- Muchrooms (1974)
- Mahogany Ballpark (1976)
- Dutiful Ducks (1977) †
- Dreams Freud Dreamed (1979)
- Egusquiza to Falsetto (chamber ensemble with tape, with Margaret Fisher, 1979)
- Church Car (1980) †
- Nite Traps (1981)
- Dot Bunch (1981)
- Hypothetical Moments (In the Intellectual Life of Southern California, 1981)
- Maroa (1981) †
- Too True (1982) †
- Dog of Stravinsky (1982)
- Andas (1982)†
- The Real Perpetuum Mobile (1984)
- Gold and Spirit (1984)
- Metropolis San Francisco (1985-6)
- Dumbek Bookache (1986) †
- Walking Tune (A Room-Music for Percy Grainger, 1986-7)
- His Anxious Hours (chamber ensemble with tape, 1987)
- Pas de Voix (Portrait of Samuel Beckett, 1987)
- Politics As Usual (1988)
- Never Say Die (1989)
- Im Frühling (1990)
- Vers Les Anges (for Nicolas Slonimsky, 1990)
- Bajanoom (1990)
- Loudspeakers (for Morton Feldman, 1990)
- A Berkelium Canon (1991, with Henry Kaiser)
- Chu Lu Lu (1992)
- Ka Himeni Hehena (The Raving Mad Hymn, 1997) †
- Miatsoom (1994-7)
- Son of Metropolis San Francisco (1997)
- Marathon (1997) †
- Octet for Ratchets (amplified percussion ensemble, 1998)
- Pianola (Pas de mains, 1997-2000)
- Mqsical Lou (2003)
- Rippling the Lamp (violin and tape, 2006-7)
- Quince Quinoa (2007) †
External links
- Golden, Barbara. “Conversation with Charles Amirkhanian.” eContact! 12.2 — Interviews (2) (April 2010). Montréal: CECCanadian Electroacoustic CommunityFounded in 1986, La Communauté électroacoustique canadienne / The Canadian Electroacoustic Community is Canada’s national electroacoustic / computer music / sonic arts organization and as such is dedicated to promoting this progressive art form in its broadest definition: from “pure” acousmatic...
. - Other Minds: Amirkhanian
- American Maverick: An interview with Charles Amirkhanian by Alan Baker, Minnesota Public Radio, June 2002.
- CDeMUSIC: Charles Amirkhanian
- Walking Tune CD on Starkland
- compilation CD
Listening
- Art of the States: Charles Amirkhanian three works by Charles Amirkhanian
- UbuWeb: Charles Amirkhanian featuring music from Amirkhanian's LP Mental Radio
- Riding the Meridian: Ka Himeni Hehena Sound/Text by Charles Amirkhanian
- author page at Lyrikline.orgLyrikline.orglyrikline.org hosts contemporary international poetry as audio and text , plus bibliographies and biographies for each poet.lyrikline.org was started in November 1999 as a German-language site...
, with audio and text.