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Travis Johns (b. 1983) writes and performs music that he describes as an “abstraction of reality.” Consisting primarily of processed field recordings, improvisations and amplified “small sounds,” he attempts to weave a tapestry of experiences, gestures and thoughts into a singular, enveloping mass of sounds. Though often labeled as noise at first, a more concentrated listen will yield countless paths for the ear to follow, leading to listening experiences that he hopes will provide infinite possibilities for interpretation. His music has been performed extensively throughout the United States and abroad to a wide variety of audiences, ranging from galleries to anarchist warehouses to international music festivals. An avid performer and improviser on electric bass and homebuilt electronics, he was a member of the Oakland, Ca. based quartet The Pink Canoes (with Noah Phillips, Aram Shelton and Zachary Watkins), the improvisation trio Satellite (with Gudmundur Steinn Gunnarsson and Liz Meredith) and The Night, an award winning video and performance collective founded in Oberlin, Oh. Currently, he performs alongside visual artist Paulina Velazquez-Solis as one-half of the Costa Rican new media improvisation duo M+V.

He holds a B.M. in Technology in Music and Related Arts from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, studies conducted with Tom Lopez and Dr. Hye Kyung Lee as well as an MFA from Mills College in Electronic Music and Recording Media, studies conducted with Chris Brown, Les Stuck and Hilda Paredes. To date, Johns has participated in residencies at such places as the Atlantic Center for the Arts and RPI’s Create @ iEar and served as artistic director for the Thinktank Collective, a new media arts organization and record label founded in 2004 in Oberlin, Oh. from its inception until 2011.

Curriculum Vitae

Education

Mills College (2005-2007) MFA, Electronic Music and Recording Media.

• Studies conducted with Chris Brown, Les Stuck and Hilda Paredes.

Oberlin College Conservatory of Music (2001-2004) B.M. Technology in Music and Related Arts (TIMARA).

• Studies conducted with Tom Lopez, Gary Lee Nelson and Dr. HyeKyung Lee.

Publications

Scores and Recordings available from Thinktank Media (ascap). Recordings released on such labels as the Oberlin Conservatory Press, Mills College Press, Vox Novus, Shinkoyo, Frequent Sea Records and Thinktank Media.

Awards, Residencies and Teaching Appointments

• 2011 – Honorable Mention, MUCEVI Concurso Centroamericano de Arte Sonoro.
• 2011 – Workshop conducted with master artist Marcelí Antúnez Roca, TEC de Cartago/Teatro de Aduana, San José, Costa Rica.
• 2008 – Residency conducted at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. as part of the Create @ iEar Program.
• 2008 Visiting Instructor – Workshop in algorithmic music composition conducted on behalf of Grupo Oscilador, San Jose, Costa Rica.
• 2007 – Elizabeth Mills Crothers Award for Outstanding Musical Composition, Mills College.
• 2006 – Residency conducted with master artist Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyna Beach, Fla.
• 2005 – Honorable Mention, Drunken Boat Magazine’s 2005 Panliterary Awards.

Selected Performances and Installations

• 08.06.2011 – Narrowsburg, Pa. Premier of Watermarks, a site specific performance/installation presented as part of the Electronic Music Foundation’s Ear to the Earth SlowFloat Event.
• 05.25.2011 - Festival de Musica Electroacoustica, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica. Duo Performance with Paulina Velazquez-Solis (m+v).
• 09.11.2010 – Brava Theatre, San Francisco, Ca. San Francisco Electronic Music Festival.
• 03.12.2010 – Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, Ca. Duo performance with Paulina Velazquez-Solis (m+v).
• 02.23.2010 – Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. Solo performance.
• 10.17.2009 – International Live-Looping Festival, Santa Cruz, Ca. Solo performance.
• 09.29.2008 – SUNY Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY. Premier of Ammaton, for two bassoons and three-channel acousmatic sound environment.
• 06.25.2007 – Web premier of Priorseen, for stereo tape by the New York Miniaturist Ensemble.
• 03.04.2007 – Santa Fe International Festival of Electroacoustic Music, Santa Fe, NM. Premier of ns06_je15-26 for stereo tape broadcast on KUNM 89.5 FM, Albaquerque, NM.
• 02.25.2007 – Mills College Concert Hall, Oakland, Ca. Premier of thesis composition entitled Blank Verse, or the Order of the Sacred Leaves of Broken Spearmint. Awarded the Elizabeth Mills Crothers Award for Outstanding Musical Composition, May 2007.
• 11.07.2006 – International Computer Music Conference, Tulane University, New Orleans, La. Performance with the Pink Canoes.
• 07.13.2006 – ¿Que Centroamerica?, Museo de Arte y Diseno Contemporaneo, San Jose, Costa Rica. Solo performance.

To download a hardcopy of this CV, please click here:

Travis Johns – Curriculum Vitae

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