Annea Lockwood facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Annea Lockwood
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Annea Lockwood in 2020
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| Background information | |
| Born | July 29, 1939 Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, academic musician |
Annea Lockwood is a composer from New Zealand, born in 1939. She is known for creating very unique music. She taught electronic music at Vassar College in the United States. Her music often uses electronic sounds, voices, and sounds from nature. She even made art pieces by burning or drowning pianos!
Contents
Early Life and Studies
Annea Lockwood loved music from a young age. She studied how to compose music at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. After that, she continued her studies in London, Germany, and the Netherlands. In 1964, she decided to live in London.
Creative Work and Style
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Lockwood created and performed her music across Europe. She used unusual "instruments" in her pieces. For example, in The Glass Concert (1967), she used glass tubes to make sounds.
Piano Art Pieces
One of her most famous series is called Piano Transplants. For these pieces, she would burn, drown, or even plant pianos in different places. These were not just musical performances; they were also a type of performance art.
Sound and Nature
In 1973, Lockwood moved to New York City. There, she started working with sounds from the environment. She would record natural sounds and then build her music around them. For example, she created A Sound Map of the Hudson River (1982). This piece used sounds recorded from the Hudson River. She also made World Rhythms (1975), which explored global sounds.
Lockwood also created music based on conversations with people. Conversations with the Ancestors (1979) used talks with four women in their 80s. She also made Delta Run (1982) after talking with a sculptor named Walter Wincha.
Unique Instruments and Collaborations
Annea Lockwood even invented a special device called the Soundball. It was a foam-covered ball with six small speakers and a radio receiver inside. She used it in her piece Three Short Stories and Apotheosis (1985). The idea was to let dancers "hold" the sound. She also often uses the sounds of water in her compositions.
In the 1990s, her music started to combine acoustic and electronic instruments. She also used multi-media and traditional instruments from different cultures. For example, Thousand Year Dreaming (1991) featured four didgeridoos. It also included images from the Lascaux Cave as part of the performance.
In 2002, she began a project called A Sound Map of the Danube River. For this, she collected sounds from many different spots on, in, and around the Danube River.
Recognition and Legacy
Annea Lockwood's work has been shown at music festivals all over the world. Her piece Piano Burning has been performed many times by others. She received the Henry Cowell Award in 2007. She was also featured in two documentaries by Sam Green: Annea Lockwood / a Film About Listening (2021) and 32 Sounds (2022).
Lockwood is now a professor emeritus at Vassar College. This means she is a retired professor who is still highly respected by the college.
Images for kids
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Annea Lockwood in 2020
