Suzanne Ciani and Modular Synthesizer Performance
Suzanne Ciani
Electronic music pioneer Suzanne Ciani will join us at Berklee this year as a scholar in electronic music. She will be on campus for two weeks per semester, working with classes, meeting with students and faculty, and developing new creative work to be presented at the College. For her first visit, November 28 through December 9, she will focus on composing and performing with the Buchla modular synthesizer and talking about her work as an electronic performer.
About Suzanne Ciani
Suzanne Ciani is a pioneer of electronic music in the United States. In the early 1970s she studied composition at the University of California at Berkley, and while there, she began working with synthesizer designer Don Buchla. Her knowledge and passion for the Buchla synthesizer led to a successful career as a synthesist and commercial sound designer. Throughout the 1970s, her work led to the creation of iconic sounds for commercials and video games, working with companies such as Coca Cola, Merrill Lynch, AT&T, and General Electric.
In 1981 Ciani became the first woman to score a major full-length Hollywood release, Lilly Tomlin’s The Incredible Shrinking Woman. In 1982 she began a career as a solo artist, producing instrumental music that combined electronic and acoustic instruments, picking up five Grammy nominations and numerous industry awards. In the past two years, her career has come full circle with a return to her electronic roots, performing solo modular synthesizer concerts. She was a featured artist at Moogfest 2016, and a documentary film of her career is slated for release in 2017.