In association with No Bounds Festival
We are delighted to welcome John Chowning, legendary inventor of FM Synthesis and Professor of Music Emeritus at Stanford University, to Firth Hall.
This two part event will combine a lecture and then a presentation performance from Professor Chowning, and coloratura soprano Maureen Chowning.
An informative and musically illustrated lecture will explore the history around composition, computer systems and sound, and how this led to learning about sound perception. Including John’s own work and the discovery of FM Synthesis in 1967, this is a unique opportunity to hear from a genuine trailblazer in electronic music.
The performance will include piece introductions, live vocal performance and spatialized playback of some of John Chowning’s most famous works.
Schedule
Lecture – 6pm
Performance – 8pm
John Chowning
John M. Chowning was born in Salem, New Jersey. in 1934. Following military service and studies at Wittenberg University, he studied composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. In 1964, with the help of Max Mathews of Bell Telephone Laboratories and David Poole of Stanford University, he set up a computer music program using the computer system of Stanford’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Beginning the same year, he began the research leading to the first generalized sound localization algorithm implemented in a quad format in 1968. He received a doctorate in composition from Stanford University in 1966. Chowning discovered the frequency modulation synthesis (FM) algorithm in 1967. This breakthrough in the synthesis of timbres allowed a very simple yet elegant way of creating and controlling time-varying spectra. Inspired by the acoustic and perceptual research of Jean-Claude Risset, over the next six years, he worked toward turning this discovery into a system of musical importance, using it extensively in his compositions. In 1973 Stanford University licensed the FM synthesis patent to Yamaha in Japan, leading to the most successful synthesis engine in the history of electronic musical instruments.
Maureen Chowning
Coloratura soprano Maureen Chowning studied at the Boston Conservatory of Music before moving to the San Francisco area. She has since appeared on the Public Broadcasting System’s NOVA series and Smithsonian World with Max Mathews, demonstrating his Radio Baton and conductor programs. Her performances of contemporary works are numerous. She performed the premier of Voices in 2005 at the Maison de Radio in Paris and subsequent performances in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. She is noted for her ability to sing comfortably in alternative tunings.
