Corwin Chair Series Lectures

Kuchera-Morin, Shaw, Chong, and Justel

The Spring Corwin Chair Lecture Series included four virtual events, kicking off with a talk by composer and UC Santa Barbara Professor Dr. JoAnn Kuchera-Morin (pictured above) on April 9. In her lecture, titled “Using the Creative Process as a Computational Framework for Unfolding Complex Systems,” Dr. Kuchera-Morin discussed how we can apply the creative compositional process in building computational languages and computational platforms in order to represent very complex information through our senses, namely visual, audio, and interactive representations. Dr. Kuchera-Morin is Professor of Media Arts and Technology and Music at UC Santa Barbara, as well as the Director and Chief Scientist of the AlloSphere Research Facility.

Caroline Shaw

On April 30, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw discussed her musical background, current projects, and held a Q&A. Following the discussion, she coached a UCSB undergraduate string quartet on her piece Entr’acte. Shaw was the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013 for Partita for 8 Voices, written for the Grammy-winning Roomful of Teeth, of which she is a member. Recent commissions include new works for Renée Fleming with Inon Barnatan, Dawn Upshaw with Sō Percussion and Gil Kalish, Seattle Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Brooklyn Rider.

Dr. Kee Yong Chong

Dr. Kee Yong Chong gave a lecture titled “Multi-Layered Ethnic and Cultural Influences in my Musical Compositions” on May 14, in which he discussed his work and influences. Dr. Chong’s awards include the Prix Marcel Hastir by Belgium Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters & Fine Arts; the Fourth International Andrzej Panufnik Competition for Young Composers in Poland; the Grand Prix at the Second Seoul International Competition for Composers; the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra International Composers’ Award; and Third Prize in the Luxembourg International Composition Award.

Elsa Justel

The final Spring Corwin Chair Lecture on June 4 featured composer Elsa Justel in a discussion of her works, influences, and compositional aesthetic. Justel has taught new composition techniques at the Conservatorio Provincial de Música Luis Gianneo in Mar del Plata (Argentina), sound techniques and sound form at the Universite Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée (France), and electroacoustic music at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona (Spain). She has published various articles on electroacoustic music and videomusic and has participated in many conferences as a speaker.