University of Calgary

Laurie Radford

  • Professor

Research Interests

Music:

Biography

Composer Laurie Radford creates music for diverse combinations of instruments and voices, electroacoustic media, and performers in interaction with computer-controlled signal processing of sound and image. His music fuses together timbral and spatial characteristics of instruments, voices with mediated sound and image in a sonic art that is rhythmically visceral, formally exploratory and sonically engaging.

His music has been performed and broadcast throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia at events including Futura, Biennale Musique en scène, Miami New Music Festival, Musica Viva, Rien à voir, MusiMars, Musicacoustica, San Francisco Tape Music Festival, Festival Encuentros, Nornadas de Música Elektroakustika, Semaine Internationale de Cuenca, Discoveries, Mantis Festival, Cutting Edge, and SAN Expo.

He has received commissions and performances from ensembles and soloists including the Aventa Ensemble, Duo Kovalis, code d'accès, GroundSwell, Earplay, Ensemble Résonance, Ensemble Transmission, Esprit Orchestra, Land’s End Ensemble, New Music Concerts, Le Nouvel Ensemble Modern, L'Ensemble contemporain de Montréal, Pro Coro Canada, Totem contemporain, Trio Fibonacci, Trio Phoenix, the Penderecki, Bozzini and Molinari String Quartets, and the Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Montréal Symphony Orchestras.

Radford’s music is available on empreintes DIGITALes, McGill Records, PeP Recordings, Clef Records, Eclectra Records, Centrediscs and Fidelio Audiophile Recordings. He is an associate of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers, the Canadian Electroacoustic Community, the Canadian New Music Network, and Sound and Music UK. Radford has taught music technology, instrumental composition, and electroacoustic music and media arts at McGill University, Concordia University, Bishop’s University, University of Alberta, City University (London, UK), and is presently a Professor at the University of Calgary. He also serves as the coordinator of the Musique Nouvelle spring workshop at the Académie internationale de musique et de danse du Domaine Forget. 

Research

My principle areas of research expertise and interest are music composition,  electroacoustic music, interactivity and live electronic music performance, new music performance practices, improvisation, spatial audio design, audiovisual arts, sound recording, music technology, arts and society, and music perception. As a composer, I write music for various combinations of instruments and voices, often in combination with live multi-­‐channel audio processing and live video processing. I also create multi-­‐channel electroacoustic/acousmatic studio-­‐based works involving extensive design and transformation of sound materials. My published writings explore various aspects of music performance with new and emerging technologies, especially concepts of interactivity and audiovisuality.

Recordings

Landlocked on CD 25 electroacoustic snapshots, empreintes AUDIOes IMED 9004-CD 1990, IMED 9604 1996.
Minuit Caché on CD GEMS - Before The Freeze, McGill Records 750038-2-CD, 1991.
enclave (excerpt) on CD DisContact! II, Canadian Electroacoustic Community, PeP, 1995; 1997.
enclave on CD Tornado: McGill EMS 35th Anniversary Compilation, McGill Records 2001-01-2.
The Invalidity of Monuments, Minuit caché, Expelled Notions, Landlocked,
enclave on CD Volume XXX, Electronic Music Studio, McGill University Faculty of Music, Montréal, 2001.
les ponts de l'espace I on CD Presence III, Canadian Electroacoustic Community, PeP (2002).
…que la terre s'ouvre... on CD Jean-François Guay: New School. Fidelio Audiophile Recordings, 2003.
Roiling (piano). Roger Admiral: Visions of NothingnessClef Records 03006-2, 2004.
wherewithal (clarinet). Don Ross: The Weather Within, Music for Clarinet. Eclectra Records 2071, 2005.

Publications

Radford, Laurie. “From Mixed Up to Mixin’ It Up: Evolving Paradigms in Electronic Music Performance.” Compositional Crossroads: Music, McGill, Montréal. Eleanor v. Stubley, ed. McGill-Queens University Press, 2007

Radford, Laurie. “Le Meilleur Professeur Est Un Étudiant Éternal, Bengt Hambraeus – Compositeur et Pedagogue.” Circuit (Revue Nord-Americain du XX Siècle), Les Racines de l’Identité. Vol. 10 No. 2, 1999.

Radford, Laurie. “I am sitting on a fence: Negotiating Sound and Image in Audiovisual Composition.” eContact! 15.4, 2014. 

Radford, Laurie. Review of Claude Schryer. Autour. empreintes AUDIOes. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 22 No. 4 Winter 1998.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Jonty Harrison - Articles indefinis. empreintes AUDIOes. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 22 No. 4 Winter 1998.

Radford, Laurie. “Festschrift Cross Currents and Counterpoints, Offerings in Honor of Bengt Hambræus at 70.” Compte rendu. Circuit (Revue Nord-Americain du XX Siècle), Les Racines de l’Identité. Vol. 10 No. 2, 1999.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Ivan Fedele. IRCAM Compositeurs d´aujourd´hui. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 23 No. 3 Fall 1999.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Gonzalo Biffarella: Mestizaje. Vol. 10 Chrysopé Electronique, Bourges. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 24 No. 4 Winter 2000.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Äänen Lumo: Sounds!. Charm of Sound (Finland). Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 24 No. 4 Winter 2000.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Daniel Leduc: Le voyage d'hiver. empreintes AUDIOes. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 25 No. 1 Spring 2001.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Kristoff K. Roll: Des travailleurs de la nuit, à l'amie des objets. Metampkine. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 25 No. 1 Spring 2001.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Barry Truax, ed. Handbook of Acoustic Ecology, 2nd edition (CD- ROM version). Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 25 No. 1 Spring 2001.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Françoise Barrière, Chrysopé Electronique, Bourges. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 25 No. 3 Fall 2001.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Leonardo Music Journal CD, Volume 9, Guy Van Belle, ed., Power and Responsibility: Converted to Streaming Between Machines. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 25 No. 3 Fall 2001.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Robert Scott Thompson. Shadow Gazing, Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 26 No. 4 Winter 2002.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Bill Alves. The Terrain of Possibilities, Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 26 No. 4 Winter 2002.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Kristoff K. Roll. La Pièce. empreintes AUDIOes. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 28 No. 2 Summer 2004.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Sophie Agnel, Lionel Marchetti, Jérôme Noetinger. Rouge gris bruit. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 28 No. 2 Summer 2004.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Burkhard Beins, Allesandro Bosetti, Axel Dorner, Robin Hayward, Annette Krebs, Andrea Neuman, Michale Renkel, Ignaz Schick. Phosphor. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 28 No. 2 Summer 2004.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Mario Verandi. orillas distantes / distant shores. EMF CD 035. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 29 No. 4 Winter 2005.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Esther Lamneck, Tárogató: A Folk Instrument With a Contemporary Sound. Roméo Records 7212. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 29 No. 4 Winter 2005.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Cultures électroniques 11, Bourges 1998. 25e Concours International de Musique Electroacoustique, Prix Quadrivium. LCD 278 065/66. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 30 No. 4, Winter 2006.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Compendium International Bourges 2001, Chrysopée Electronique 20 LCD 278 11 22/23. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 30 No. 4, Winter 2006.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Cultures électroniques 16, Bourges 2002. 29e Concours International de Musique et d’Art Sonore Electroacoustiques, Lauréats du Magisterium et du Trivium. LCD 278 076/77. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 30 No. 4, Winter 2006.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Meta Duo, Korea - Sax. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 33 No. 4 Winter 2009.

Radford, Laurie. Review of Eric Chasalow, Left to His Own Devices. Computer Music Journal. The MIT Press, Vol. 33 No. 4 Winter 2009.

Radford, Laurie, Claude Schryer, eds. Radio Free Banff - '89 days of RADIA 89.9 FM Artists' Catalogue, Banff Centre for the Arts, 1990.

Radford, Laurie. “The Radio and I.” RADIA 89.9 FM Artists' Catalogue. Banff Centre for the Arts, 1990.

Montréal Musique Actuelle / New Music America. English translation of festival catalogue, 1990. Radford, Laurie. “Montréal Musiques Actuelles/New Music America 1990- A Festival

Sneak Preview.” Contact! - Newsletter of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community, 1990.

Radford, Laurie. “Electroacoustics in Performance (Responsibilities - Ours and Theirs).” Contact! - Newsletter of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community, 1990.

Dhomont, Francis. Mouvances ~ Métaphores IMED 91-7/08-CD. English translation of biography in accompanying booklet. empreintes AUDIOes, 1991.

Pennycook, Bruce, Laurie Radford, eds. GEMS - Before The Freeze, CD booklet notes. McGill Records CD 750038-2, 1991.

Radford, Laurie. “ICMC '91 (Copy and Paste - The Aesthetics of Musical Excess).” Contact! - Newsletter of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community, 1992.

Radford, Laurie. Various Audio and Concert Reviews. Contact! - Newsletter of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community, 1991 - 1998.

Radford, Laurie. “Interactivity in Networked Systems.” On-line publication, 1995.

Radford, Laurie. “Composers and Performers: Millennial Crossroads.” Unpublished, 1998.

Radford, Laurie. “Reminiscing About a Renaissance Man - Bengt Hambraeus (1928-2000).” Bulletin of the Canadian League of Composers, Summer 2001.

Teaching

My approach to teaching is based on three concepts that are fundamental to education and learning: sharing, guidance and discovery. Guiding students to explore and understand music and the sonic arts is a privilege that I find exhilarating and rewarding.

I believe that its is very important to provide guidance for the practical components of a discipline and field of study, but to also nurture an individual’s personal engagement and perspective in the that endeavour.

It is my objective in teaching in music and the arts, and specifically in artistic practice that involves new and emerging technologies, to share my experience, and guide students in the discovery of their relationship with sound and musicking.

Main areas of specialization

New Music Ensemble (MUPF 227/327)
Improvisation Ensemble (MUPF 214/314)
Composers and Musical Cultures (MUHL 311)
Sound Recording (MUSI 355)
Sonic Arts (MUSI 351)
Composition (MUSI 341, MUSI 343, MUSI 441, MUSI 443, MUSI 641, MUSI 741)
Comparative Studies and Critical Theory (FINA 501, FINA 603)
Selected Topics in Electroacoustic Music (MUSI 651)
Advanced Topics in Electroacoustic Music (MUSI 751)
Independent Study (MUSI 761)

Powered by UNITIS. More features.