Annie Gosfield facts for kids
Annie Gosfield (born September 11, 1960, in Philadelphia) is a New York-based composer. She creates music that blends different styles. Her work often mixes written music with music made up on the spot. She also combines electronic sounds with acoustic (non-electronic) sounds. Annie Gosfield likes to use both clear, beautiful sounds and more unusual noises.
She writes music for other musicians and performs with her own group. Her music has been heard in many places, from concert halls to factories and clubs. A lot of her pieces mix regular instruments with electronic sounds. She often uses unique sounds like satellite signals, machine noises, or even sounds from out-of-tune instruments. Her music often includes improvisation, where musicians make up parts as they play. She also uses special ways of playing instruments or even changed instruments. In 2012, she won a special award called the Berlin Prize.
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Annie Gosfield's Music
Annie Gosfield creates many types of music. This includes big pieces for orchestras, operas, and music for dance. She also writes music for smaller groups and electronic music. She uses traditional music notes, but also lets musicians improvise. She explores how music and noise can work together.
Her music often gets ideas from non-musical sounds. These can be sounds from machines, old broken pianos, or even 78 rpm records that are warped. She also gets ideas from detuned radios. Annie Gosfield often works closely with musicians. This helps her highlight their special talents.
Famous Performances
Annie Gosfield's music has been played all over the world. Groups like The Bang on a Can Allstars and the FLUX Quartet have performed her works. Her music has been featured at many festivals. These include Warsaw Autumn and the Bang on a Can Marathon.
In 2017, the Los Angeles Philharmonic presented her first opera. An opera is a play where most of the words are sung. This opera was based on Orson Welles's famous radio show, The War of the Worlds. It was a very special performance. It happened both inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall and outside on the streets of Los Angeles. Three old air raid sirens were used to play the music to people in nearby parking lots!
Unique Projects
Annie Gosfield has created music for unusual places. She made a special piece for a factory in Germany. She also worked with artist Manuel Ocampo on art installations. An installation is an art piece set up in a specific space. She even made a video for an imaginary orchestra of broken instruments.
She has also worked with many choreographers. These are people who create dance routines. Her music for dance has been shown at big events. These include the Venice Biennale and the Next Wave Festival in New York.
Her uncle was the actor Maurice Gosfield.
Large-Scale Works
Some of Annie Gosfield's bigger pieces are very interesting.
- Daughters of the Industrial Revolution: This long concert piece was inspired by her grandparents. They were immigrants who came to New York City during the time of the Industrial Revolution. This was when many factories were built.
- EWA7: This piece was made during her time in the factories of Nuremberg, Germany. It was created specifically for that industrial setting.
- Floating Messages and Fading Frequencies: This work used secret coding systems. These codes were used by the Resistance in WWII during World War II. This piece was performed in several cities in the U.K.
Her work has been written about in major newspapers like The New York Times. It has also been featured on National Public Radio. She has received awards from groups like the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.
Her Albums
Annie Gosfield has released four solo albums on Tzadik Records.
- Her 2012 album, Almost Truths and Open Deceptions, includes a piece for cello and orchestra. It also has a piece for piano and a broken shortwave radio. Other songs were inspired by warped 78 rpm records, baseball, and the Industrial Revolution.
- Her third album, Lost Signals and Drifting Satellites, features music for solo violin. This music is played along with sounds from satellite transmissions.
- Her album Flying Sparks and Heavy Machinery has two pieces. These were inspired by her time in the factories of Nuremberg, Germany, in 1999.
- Burnt Ivory and Loose Wires was her first solo album for Tzadik. It focuses on her music for detuned (slightly out of tune) piano.
Teaching and Writing
Annie Gosfield has taught music composition at several universities. These include Columbia University, Mills College, and Princeton University. She has also written articles about music. Some of her essays have appeared in The New York Times. She also contributes to "The Score," a blog where composers talk about their work.
Awards and Fellowships
Annie Gosfield has received many important awards and honors.
- In 2021, she received a Music Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters.
- In 2017, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship for music composition.
- She won the Berlin Prize in music composition in 2012. This made her a Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin.
- She was also the Paul Fromm Composer-in-Residence at the American Academy in Rome in 2015.
- In 2008, she was a Civitella Ranieri Fellow.
Discography
- Burnt Ivory and Loose Wires (1998): Music for detuned piano, saxophone quartet, and cello.
- Flying Sparks and Heavy Machinery (2001): Two pieces inspired by her time in Nuremberg factories.
- Lost Signals and Drifting Satellites (2004): Chamber and solo works.
- A Sideways Glance from an Electric Eye (2008): Appears on The Art of Virtual Rhythmicon with other composers.
- Almost Truths and Open Deceptions (2012): Features a cello concerto, a piece for piano and broken shortwave radio, and more.
