Andrew May is a composer and computer music researcher whose music
has been performed in Japan, Korea, Singapore, Greece, Switzerland,
Germany, England, and throughout the United States. He recently
joined the composition faculty at the University of North Texas,
where he is also director of the Center for Experimental Music and
Intermedia (CEMI).
Born and raised in Chicago, May received his PhD from University of
California at San Diego, where he studied composition with Roger
Reynolds, computer music with Miller Puckette and improvisation with
George Lewis. He has also studied composition with Mel Powell and
violin with Laura Kuennen-Poper at the California Institute of the
Arts, where he received his MFA in composition and violin
performance; and with Jonathan Berger, John Sichel, and Deniz Ulben
at Yale University, where he received his BA in music (summa cum
laude). He studied computer music at the Stage d'Informatique
Musicale at IRCAM in 1998.
May has composed for orchestra, chorus, wind ensemble, and diverse
other forces; he is best known for chamber music in which some of the
performers are computer systems. May's music has been presented
widely in festivals and conferences (June in Buffalo, National Flute
Association Convention, Third International New Music Festival in Las
Vegas, Southeastern Composers' League, Darmstadt Summer Courses,
Arcosanti Young Composers' Conference), new music concert series (LA
Philharmonic Green Umbrella Series, New Music Circle of St. Louis,
Birmingham Art Music Alliance), and music schools (Juilliard, New
England Conservatory, Peabody, Curtis, Brown, Dartmouth, Louisiana
State, San Francisco State, Sookmyung University). May has presented
computer music and research at such venues as SEAMUS National
Conferences, International Computer Music Conferences, Third Practice
Festivals, Electronic Music Midwest, and Scarborough Electro Acoustic.
May has written pieces for the EAR Unit, SONOR, Canto Battuto (voice
and percussion), clarinetist F. Gerard Errante, percussionists Robert
Damm, Vanessa Tomlinson, and Brett Reed, flutist Elizabeth McNutt,
violinists Jonathan Dubay and Persephone Gibbs, the Third Unitarian
Church Ensemble of Chicago, and the Yale Bach Society Orchestra.
May's music can be heard on Music from SEAMUS Volumes 9 and 15 and on
Elizabeth McNutt's solo CD pipe wrench.
Also a violinist, improviser, and conductor, May has performed in
Germany and Switzerland and across the United States, and has been
recorded on CRI. He is co-founder of the contemporary mic presenting
organization Atomic Clock Music Events, and serves as Americas
regional director, Secretary, and Treasurer for the International
Computer Music Association. May's work has been supported by grants
from the American Music Center, the Center for Research and Creative
Work at the University of Colorado, and numerous commissions.