Pamela Z facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Pamela Z
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Pamela Z (c. 2003)
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| Background information | |
| Born | 1956 (age 68–69) Buffalo, New York |
| Genres | Avant-garde, contemporary classical, experimental, electroacoustic |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, performer |
| Instruments | Voice, electronics |
| Labels | Starkland, Innova, Bridge |
Pamela Z (born in 1956) is an American composer and performer. She is also a media artist. She is famous for her solo performances where she uses her voice with electronic sounds.
When she performs, Pamela Z mixes different vocal sounds. These include operatic singing, experimental voice techniques, and spoken word. She also uses samples and sounds made by changing everyday objects. She often processes her voice live using computer software. This lets her layer, loop, and change her voice in real time. Her shows often include video projections. She also uses special controllers with sensors. These allow her to use her body movements to control the sound and videos.
Pamela Z has released several solo albums. These include Echolocation (1987), A Delay is Better (2004), and A Secret Code (2021). Her sound art has been shown in many art galleries. These include the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Her work has also been featured in group shows. These include the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Pamela Z has received many important awards. These include a United States Artists fellowship and the Rome Prize. She also received a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her performances and work have been reviewed in major newspapers. These include The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Contents
Early life and education
Pamela Z was born in Buffalo, New York. She grew up in the Denver metropolitan area. In 1978, she earned her bachelor's degree in music. She studied classical voice at the University of Colorado at Boulder. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was a singer-songwriter. She performed with her voice and guitar across Colorado. At that time, she was known as Pam Brooks.
Career highlights
In the early 1980s, Pam Brooks started trying new things with her voice. She used digital delay and reverb to change her sound. She began creating music that involved live looping of her voice.
In 1984, she moved to San Francisco. There, she officially changed her last name to Z. She became a key part of the contemporary music and performance art scene in the San Francisco Bay Area. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, she kept creating solo voice and electronics performances. She became well-known by performing in new music venues, theaters, and art galleries. She started touring her work across the country and around the world. By 2000, she was performing regularly in New York City, Europe, and Japan.
Pamela Z has performed at many famous festivals. These include Bang on a Can at Lincoln Center in New York City. She also performed at La Biennale di Venezia in Venice.
Besides her solo work, Pamela Z has composed music for other groups. She has created chamber works for famous contemporary music groups. These include the Kronos Quartet and the Bang on a Can All Stars. She also composed for Eighth Blackbird and flautist Claire Chase.
In 2013, the Kronos Quartet asked her to create a new piece. It was called "And the Movement of the Tongue." A music critic from the San Francisco Chronicle called it "witty and beautifully touching."
In 2014, she created the sound for a show called “Multiple Mary and Invisible Jane.” This show took place on a large wall at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco. Pamela Z recorded and changed the voices of homeless women. They were telling their personal stories. She has also composed music for modern dancers.
In 2022, Pamela Z was one of several composers asked to create new music. This was for soprano Julia Bullock's "History's Persistent Voice." It was performed with the San Francisco Symphony.
She has also composed music for independent films. These include movies by Barbara Hammer and Lynne Sachs.
Recordings and albums
Many of Pamela Z's well-known pieces are on her 2004 solo CD, A Delay is Better. This album was released on the Starkland label. Some of her works have also appeared on other experimental music collections. For example, her piece "Declaratives In First Person" is on Crosstalk: American Speech Music. This was a 2008 album from Bridge Records. Her piece ‘’Geekspeak’’ is on Sonic Circuits IV (1996) and Bitstreams (2001).
In 2021, a new release of her album ‘Echolocation’ was listed by The New York Times. They called it one of "5 Classical Music Albums to Hear Right Now." The review praised her skill at live looping and her unique vocal style. It noted how she combines her classical training with many different music styles.
Visual art and installations
Pamela Z creates sound art for radio and new media installations for art galleries. In 2023, her 21-channel sound installation, Simultaneous, was shown at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. She also performed a multimedia chamber work there.
She had a solo exhibition at the Krannert Art Museum in Champaign, Illinois in 2010. Other places her art has been shown include Savvy Contemporary in Berlin.
Pamela Z's installations have also been part of group exhibitions. These include Walkmen in Cologne, Germany, in 2000. For this, she created "…and on your left…" to be heard on headphones. In 2019, she showed "Sonic Gestures," a six-channel video installation in Trondheim, Norway. Her work was also in Bitstreams at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2001.
Narration work
Pamela Z is also known for her voice work in independent films and television. Her voice can be heard in several documentaries. These include Sam Green's The Weather Underground (2002). She also narrated for the Bay Area PBS TV show, Spark, from 2003 to 2016.
Honors and awards
Pamela Z has received many important honors and awards. These include:
- United States Artists fellowship (2020)
- American Academy of Arts and Letters Walter Hinrichsen Award (2020)
- Rome Prize (2019)
- Guggenheim Fellowship (2004)
- Doris Duke Performing Artist Award in theater (2015)
- CalArts Alpert Award in the Arts (1998)
- Creative Capital Fund (2002)
- ASCAP Music Award (2000-2017)
- MAP Fund (2009 and 2012)
- SEAMUS Lifetime Achievement Award (2016)
- NEA and Japan/US Friendship Commission Fellowship (1998)
In 2008, she was honored as Alumna of the Year by the University of Colorado at Boulder College of Music. She also received an honorable mention at the Prix Ars Electronica in Austria. In 2017, she was an artist-in-residence at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.
In 2018, the New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) conference created a special award. It is called the “Pamela Z Award for Innovation.” This award recognizes researchers who help bring more diversity to the NIME community.
Discography
Solo albums
- Echolocation, 1987, ZED, cassette only, out-of-print
- A Delay is Better, 2004, Starkland, CD ST-213
- A Secret Code, 2021, Neuma Records CD 143
- Echolocation (reissue, 2021), Freedom to Spend Vinyl LP FTS-024
Compilations
- Pearls, the Gem of the Sea on " Komotion International Vol. 11", 1991, Spirit Records
- State on "State of the Union", 1992, Arrest
- In Tymes of Olde (Z) and Obsession, Additiction and the Aristotelian Curve (Z and Imhoff) on "From A to Z", Starkland, 1993
- Bald Boyfriend performed by The Qube Chix on "Dice", 1993, Ishtar
- Geekspeak on "Sonic Circuits IV", 1996, Innova Recordings
- Parts and Questions/Trip on "Dice 2", 1996, Ishtar
- Caught on "Emergency Music", CRI, 1998
- Live/Work on "IMMERSION", Starkland, 2000
- Geekspeak on "Bitstreams", curated by Stephen Vitiello, Whitney Museum of American Art, 2001
- 50 for Charles Amirkhanian on "Homo Sonorus", Kunstradio, 2001
- No. 3 on "Visions", (2002) EMIT Series
- Pop Titles 'You' on "Deep Wireless 2: New Adventures in Sound Art," 2005
- Declaratives In First Person on "Crosstalk: American Speech Music", produced by Mendi & Keith Obadike, Bridge Records, 2008
Tribute CDs
- Movements I, II, & III (Peter Kowald), Kowald, Gottschalk, and Z on "Global Village Trio", Free Elephant, 2004
- Postcard From Heaven (John Cage), Victoria Jordanova: harps, Z: voices, Arpaviva, 2006
- Scared Song (Meredith Monk), composer, Monk, arr. & performer, Z on "Monk Mix", House Foundation for the Arts, 2012
On others' albums
- Ethel, Ethel Dreams of Temporal Disturbances (Z) on "Light", Cantaloupe, 2006
- Vijay Iyer and Mike Ladd, Still Life with Commentator, Savoy Jazz, 2007
- Lisle Ellis, Sucker Punch Requiem (Ellis: bass, Z: voice & electronics, Oliver Lake: saxophones, George Lewis: trombone, Holly Hoffman: flutes, Mike Wofford: piano, Susie Ibarra: drums & percussion), Henceforth, 2008
- Vijay Iyer and Mike Ladd, Holding It Down: The Veterans' Dreams Project, 2013
