Scott Smallwood

sound artist, composer, performer, educator


bio

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Scott Smallwood was born in Dallas, Texas, and grew up at 10,000 feet in elevation in the Colorado Rockies. At the age of 10, his father gave him a cassette tape recorder, and ever since he has been fascinated by the possibilities of recorded sound. He listens and makes recordings and observations of places and objects, and draws the resulting sounds into compositions and performances. Ranging from sonic photographs, studio compositions, instrumental pieces, sound installations, and improvisations, the resulting pieces are often textural, always mindful of space and subtlety.

As a performing artist, Smallwood has performed as a percussionist, pianist, and electronic musician on laptops, synthesizers, noise generators, and handmade electronic instruments. He is one half of the duo Evidence (with Stephan Moore), and has performed and collaborated with many other artists and musicians, including Mark Dresser, Yanira Castro, The Jen Mesch Dance Conspiracy, Pauline Oliveros, Seth Cluett, and Matmos. As a composer, he has written works for small and large ensembles, including recent works for Continuum Ensemble of Toronto, the Nash Ensemble of London, and the New York Virtuoso Singers.

His work has been presented worldwide, including recent presentations at the Stone in NYC, the Burning Man Festival in Black Rock City, Nevada, the The Hong Kong Arts Centre, and the Seedspace Gallery in Nashville. His work has been released on Autumn Records, Deep Listening, Wowcool, Simple Logic, Static Caravan, and others.

From 1997 until 2003, he worked as a studio engineer, faculty member, and technical director in the intgrated electronic arts (iEAR) program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, one of the first programs of its kind in North America. He holds music degrees from Seattle Pacific University, Miami University, Peabody Conservatory, and Princeton University, where he also held postdoctoral research associate position, working with the legendary Princeton Laptop Orchestra (PLOrk). He currently lives in Edmonton, Alberta, where he is an Associate Professor of composition at the University of Alberta.

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