Amanda Schoofs - Downloadable Press ImageBiographyI am a composer, improviser, vocalist, and visual artist. I create visceral works that emphasize timbre and intimacy while exposing the vulnerable and violent nature of the human spirit. My compositions extend from the American experimental music tradition and exist in the space between diverse artistic practices. At times I use traditional notation to convey musical ideas, but often I find it restricting; as a result I have developed a method of painting performance scores. My painted scores explore relationships between breath/pitch, timbre/hue, intensity/shade, gesture/shape, noise, and silence. They are visual representations of sound that deconstruct traditional and contemporary forms of musical notation with erased and layered text, raw mark and intense gesture to achieve equilibrium between composition and spontaneity in performance.
As a vocalist I fuse extended techniques with traditional forms of blues, opera, chanson, and punk. Always pushing the limits, I embody extremes in timbre, texture, and breath while playing with fragmented melody, intimate phonemes, and nonsensical (text?). I have performed and collaborated with exceptional artists like: Hal Rammel, Fred Frith, Christopher Burns, Jason Hoopes, Ryan Gregory Tallman, Shayna Dunkelman, Phillip Greenlief, Steve Nelson-Rainey, Damon Smith, Trevor Saint, and many others.
I have lived and worked in Milwaukee, Florence, Oakland, Paris, and San Francisco. In 2008 I earned my MA in Music Composition from Mills College, where I received the Elizabeth Mills Crothers Award for Outstanding Musical Composition. At Mills I had the honor to work with Joëlle Léandre, Pauline Oliveros, Zeena Parkins, and Roscoe Mitchell. I graduated with Dean’s Honors in 2005 from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts with dual bachelor degrees in Music Composition and Technology, and Vocal Performance.
I am a Lecturer in Music Composition and Theory at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I was recently a Visiting Artist at Rochester Institute of Technology’s Fine Arts Printmaking Department; and I am currently a Guest Vocal Artist with Wild Space Dance Company.
Curriculum VitaeEducationMills College, Oakland, CA
Master of Arts in Music Composition, 2008, Commencement High Honors
Thesis composition:
Say Somethings for chamber ensemble and dance
Written thesis:
Say Somethings: a collage of scores, paintings, essays, and interviews Principal teachers: Joëlle Léandre, Pauline Oliveros, Fred Frith, and Roscoe Mitchell
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Peck School of the Arts, Milwaukee, WI
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music Composition and Technology, 2005
Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance, 2005, Dean’s Honors, Phi Kappa Phi, Commencement High Honors
Principal teachers: Christopher Burns, Bill Heinrichs, and Steve Nelson-Raney
Santa Reparata International School of Art, Florence, Italy International Exchange Studies in Painting, Summer 2005
GrantsYear of the Arts Grant, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2012
Vilas Foundation Grant, 2012
Graduate Research Opportunity Grant, Mills College, 2008
Wisconsin State Grant for Study Abroad, 2005
Honors and AwardsPeck School of the Arts Dean’s Faculty Development Award, 2012
First Year Student Success Award (for excellence in teaching), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2012
Leslie Whitaker Memorial Fund Award, 2011
Peck School of the Arts Dean’s Faculty Development Award, 2010
Elizabeth Mills Crothers Award for Outstanding Musical Composition, Mills College, 2008
Academic Appointments and OpportunitiesLecturer, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Department of Music, Composition and Technology/Theory, Fall 2010–present
Director and Curator of The PSoA-RIT Artist Exchange Project in collaboration with Paul Mitchell, Milwaukee, WI and Rochester, NY, January-May 2011
Visiting Artist and Lecturer, Rochester Institute of Technology, School of Imaging Arts and Design, Fine Arts Printmaking Department, March 2011
Instructor/Teaching Assistant, Mills College, Department of Music, Musicianship and Theory, 2007-2008
Invited Guest Artist Lectures and PanelsArt to Art, Artist Feedback Panel – constructive critique of new interdisciplinary performance works integrating choreography with other disciplines, Danceworks, Milwaukee, WI, July 2012
Indeterminacy and Graphic Notation, Guest Lecture, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Music 421: Materials of Contemporary Music, November 2011
Pauline Oliveros’ Sonic Mediations, Guest Lecture, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Music 120: Composition Colloquium, February 2011
Ink Makes a Sound: Painted Performance Scores, Artist Lecture on my work, Rochester Institute of Technology, Fine Arts Studio II: Non-Toxic Printmaking, March 2011
How to Succeed as a Music Major, Alumni Artist Panel, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Music 106: Foundations of Music, November 2012, November 2011, November 2010
Courses TaughtUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Fall 2010-present
Advanced Composition (Music 761, G) Fall 2012
Advanced individual instruction in composition for graduate composition students
Advanced Independent Work (Music 699, U) Spring 2011
Advanced independent study of indeterminate music through research and composition of a new work that had a public premiere and was presented during a portfolio review with the entire composition faculty
Composition Colloquium (Music 120, U) Fall 2012
Lectures on contemporary composition topics; organization of guest lectures and workshops with visiting composers and performers presenting current compositional and aesthetic techniques
Contemporary Music Ensemble (Music 454, U; Music 762, G) Fall 2011, Fall 2012
Study and performance of indeterminate scores from the contemporary music and interdisciplinary performance cannon, final presentation of work in a public recital
Introduction to Composition (MusPerf 361, U) Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Fall 2012
Contemporary compositional techniques for first-year students in the BFA composition program; study and analysis of music since 1945
Improvisation and Aleatoric Scores (Music 489, U/G) Spring 2011, Spring 2012
Study of non-idiomatic improvisation; composition of original indeterminate scores; performance and presentation of student work in a public recital
Lessons in Composition (MusPerf 361/MusPerf 461, U) Fall 2010-present
Individual instruction in composition for undergraduate composition students
Materials of Theory I (Music 127, U) Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011
Fundamental study of theory in Western diatonic music
Materials of Theory II (Music 128, U), Spring 2012, Fall 2012
Intermediate study of theory in Western diatonic music
Senior Recital (Music 660, U), Fall 2011
Independent supervised preparation and performance of student’s senior thesis composition; preparation of composition portfolio for final jury
Theory Fundamentals for Majors (Music 1, U), Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2012
Basic music theory covering written proficiency and aural skills at an introductory level
Mills College, 2007-2008
Musicianship Levels I, II, III and
IV (MUS 003, U)
Practical training in basic musical skills including: reading notation and music theory; sight-singing; melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic dictation; and basic keyboard skills
Recent CommissionsDevil’s Door (in progress) commissioned by Trevor Saint
for solo glockenspiel/voice
Painting: performance score, 22”x30”, watercolor, acrylic and ink on paper
Acedia (2012) commissioned by Kevin Stalheim of Present Music
for voice, viola, percussion, drum kit, and dancer
A triptych of drawings: performance scores, 11” x 17” each, graphite on paper
This is called breathing (2012) commissioned by Chris Burns/Unruly Music Festival
for A clarinet, violin, cello, and piano
A polytych of six paintings: performance scores, 11” x17” each, acrylic and ink on paper
Cowboy Mouth (2010) commissioned by MiLO–Milwaukee Laptop Orchestra
for laptop ensemble with or without live-processed voice and monophonic instrument
A diptych of paintings: performance scores, 22” x 30” each, acrylic and ink on paper
Brazen + Bruised (2009) commissioned by Mike K of Langton Labs
for voice, ¾ violin, and analog feedback
Painting: performance score, 22” x 30”, acrylic, ink and eye shadow on paper
Fragility of Permanence (2009) commissioned by Jason Hoopes
for solo upright bass/voice
Painting: performance score, 22”x30”, acrylic and ink on paper
Recent Select Premieres and PerformancesAria w/Fontana Mix, performance of Cage’s virtuosic vocal work as part of Woodland Pattern's John Cage Centennial Celebration, Woodland Pattern, Milwaukee, WI, October 28, 2012
Studies in Space (a Tate Bunker film) I improvise vocally in the film and co-composed the film score with Seth Warren-Crow, premiere at Milwaukee Film Festival, Milwaukee, October 4, 2012
Fieldwork, a solo vocal performance of Christopher Burns’ multimedia improvisation structure
The Borg Ward, Milwaukee, WI, August 29, 2012
My Lipstick is the Color of Your Heart, an interdisciplinary work co-created and performed with movement artist Laura Murphy, premiered at Studio Lounge, Milwaukee, July 20, 2012
This is called breathing, a chamber quartet premiered at Unruly Music Festival, Marcus Center, Milwaukee, WI, March 10, 2012
Songbooks: Aria 2, an interdisciplinary performance of John Cage’s virtuosic vocal work, Unruly Music Festival, The Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, Milwaukee, WI, March 9, 2012
Acedia, my new interdisciplinary chamber work premiered at Present Music’s Around 30, Turner Hall, Milwaukee, WI, March 3, 2012
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Faculty Recital, Trio improvisations with Christopher Burns and Steve Nelson-Raney, UWM Fine Arts Recital Hall, Milwaukee, WI, February 17, 2012
Great Lakes Improvisation Orchestra, dir. Hal Rammel, Woodland Pattern, Milwaukee, WI, December 18, 2011
Fragments for the Space Between as a guest composer/vocal artist for Wild Space Dance Company’s interdisciplinary performance In the Space Between, The Pritzlaff Building, Milwaukee, WI, September 15-17, 2011
MiLO–Milwaukee Laptop Orchestra, an electro-acoustic improvisation ensemble, as part of (zerospace), UWM Fine Arts Recital Hall, Milwaukee, WI, February 18, 2011
Cowboy Mouth, an electroacoustic work featuring laptop orchestra, premiered by MiLO at Unruly Music Festival, Milwaukee, WI, October 7, 2010
Brazen+Bruised, an electroacoustic duet, premiered at Equilibrium SF: Sensorium, Langton Labs, San Francisco CA, November 2009
Say Somethings, an electroacoustic interdisciplinary chamber work (masters’ thesis) premiered as part of Signal Flow, Mills College, Oakland, CA, March 8, 2008,
Solo ExhibitionsMAPP–Mission Art Project and Performance, San Francisco, CA, December 2009
Ink Makes a Sound, Painting: Performance Scores, a solo exhibition with live performance of my painting: performance scores.
Equilibrium SF: Sensorium, Langton Labs, San Francisco CA, November 2009
Ink Makes a Sound – Painting: Performance Scores, with sound/video installation of Fragility of Permanence, and a site-specific projection of Brazen+Bruised with live performance.
Select Group Exhibitions10-22-38 Astoria 2, The Lab, San Francisco, California, October-November 2012, I exhibited works from my series
Xerographic Variations10-22-38 Astoria, FICTILIS gallery, Seattle, Washington, November 2011
I exhibited nine pieces from my series
Xerographic Variations: Fragility of Permanence (v.1-4), Say Somethings (v.1-3), and
Brazen + Bruised (v.1-2)Jason Hoopes-Improvised Music and Dance, Mills College, Oakland, CA, April 2009
Site-specific projection of
Fragility of Permanence with live performance by Jason Hoopes
Resonant Migration, Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, CA May 9, 2008
Exhibition and live performance of my painting: performance score
Three Portraits for TrombonePublications10.22.38 Astoria: A Compilation of Xerographic PrintsLimited Edition, by book artist Amber Nelson, edited by FICTILIS art gallery, 2012
Say Somethings, Thesis (M.A.) Mills College, 2008
Subcutaneous Sound, 2007 [coll] A curated cd compilation of graduate work from Mills College
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updated 20 Jan 2013
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