Multi-Focus Performance: Percussion, Electronic Percussion

Amy Knoles has headlined on major festivals throughout the world. Her music has been described as being of "frightening beauty, fascinating, complex" -N.P.R. A "Los Angeles' new music Luminary, infinitely variable, infinitely fascinating" -- Los Angeles Times. She was the 1996 ASCAP Foundation "Composer-in-Residence at the Music Center of Los Angeles", recipient of the ACF Subito Grant 2005, recipient of the Durfee Arc-2003, 2001 the Lester Horton Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Original Music for Dance",the "UNESCO International Prize for the Performing Arts-2000", the 1999-2000 "Individual Artist Fellowship Award" from C.O.L.A., and a 2002 "Composer in Residence" Grant from the American Composers Forum. Amy is an artist that stretches the limits of expression in music with a practiced technique, which effortlessly glides from ancient exotic instruments to state-of-the-art electronic percussion controllers and interactive computer music and video technologies performing the newest music "the old fashioned way-with interpretive passion supported by controlled technique..." -- Los Angeles Times.

Ms. Knoles has been the Executive Director of the California E.A.R. Unit for twenty four years (recently awarded the "Letter of Distinction" from the American Music Center) which had been the Ensemble in Residence at the Los Angeles county Museum of Art for ninteen years, now moved their series to REDCAT. She has also worked with the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, Kronos Quartet, Rachel Rosenthal, NatPlast, Squint, Ensemble Modern of Frankfurt, The Bang On A Can All Stars, The Paul Dresher Ensemble, Collage Dance Theater, Basso Bongo, and Squint performing with live electronics and interactive video. And has worked with John Cage, Elliott Carter, Morton Feldman, Louis Andriessen, Don Preston, Frank Zappa, Morton Subotnick, Steve Reich, Tod Machover, Flea, Quincy Jones, and many others.

Ms. Knoles began experimenting with interactive computer music in 1979 while performing and recording the multimedia pieces of the "Grandfather of Techno"-Morton Subotnick. Her first solo tour used Mr. Subotnicks' software with laser beams triggering computer. She toured with Tod Machover, the head of M.I.T.'s Media lab and assisted his research on "human musical qualities" in translation to electronic instruments. She created a notational system for the DrumKat percussion controller for the head of Media Labs at Brown University- Todd Winkler. Through several week long residencies at Arizona State University's Institute for Studies in the Arts, she worked with composer Glenn Hackbarth on his piece for Mallet controller and the interactive music system MAX, and has also been in residence at Stanford University's CCRMA, and University of San Diego's CRCA, which are electronic music/interactive computer music research facilities.

Amy also works in the realm of creating interactive musical environments for galleries such as "Caged" which invites viewers to create a "realization" by clicking on an image of John Cage on a computer screen triggering chance musical events. She scores for video and performance art, most notably the Rachel Rosenthal 60 performer piece "Zone" - UCLA Center for the Performing Arts, as well as her live performance in "Pangaean Dreams", "Timepiece", and "The Unexpurgated Virgin" with Ms. Rosenthal throughout the US and Europe, and "UR-BOOR" which is Ms. Rosenthal's final solo work. Knoles is currently scoring for Collage Dance Theater and the J. Paul Getty Museum Walking tour.

She has performed on the China-Amsterdam Festival (Het Concertgebouw), Audio Art Festival- Krakow, Video Topics Festival - MAMC Strasbourg, Sacred Rhythm Festival - Bali / Kyoto, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Days of Macedonian Music-Skopje, Helsinki Festival, Oaji Festival, the "Totally Huge New Music Festival"-Australia, "Sunshine on Noir"-Denmark, the Utah Festival, the Spoleto Festival, Sommer Theater Festival-Hamburg, The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, The Cyber Arts Festival, The Eesti Festival, The Aspen Dance Festival, at Het Stedelijk Museum- Amsterdam, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Yale University, the Julliard Conservatory of Music, and others too numerous to mention.

Ms. Knoles has recorded over 20 CD's of new music for Echograph, Sony Classics, Nonesuch, C.R.I., Barking Pumpkin, Voyager CD-ROM, New Albion, New World, O.O. Discs, C.B.S., R.C.A., Relativity, and Crystal Records.

Discography:

Men In The Cities
Solo Cd on Echograph Records 9801

2 x 10 x 10 x 10 + 1
Solo Cd on Echograph records 0101-2

The California EAR Unit--GO
Echograph records 0201-2

Settings-Music of Mel Powell
New World Records 80616

Louis Andriessen-Zilver
New Albion NA 094 CD Morton Subotnick--The Key to Songs
New Albion NA 012CD

Joan LaBarbara - The Art of Joan LaBarbara
Nonesuch 78029-1 D

Ancient Eyes--Matthew Rosenblum
CRI EmergencyMusic 831

Chamber Music For the Inner Ear--Kitty Brazelton
CRI EmergencyMusic 889

Hollywood Wedding
Adam Lane
CJR 1104

Morton Subotnick--All My Hummingbirds Have Alibis
Voyager Label CD-ROM

Virko Baley--Dreamtime

Music of Byong-Kon Kim
Cambria 1046

The California EAR Unit--The California EAR Unit
New Albion NA019 CD

Eric Chasalow--Over the Edge
New World Records 80440-2

Bang on a Can
Industry
Sony Classical SK 66483

Earth and the Great Weather
John Luther Adams
New World Records 80459-2

Kole Kat Krush--Jay Kloidt
Starkland ST 208

Edible Black Ink--The Music of Arthur Jarvinen
O.O. Discs OO28

Dancing on Water--Marty Walker
Cold Blue Music CB0005

Adams/Cox/Fink/Fox
Cold Blue Music CB0009

Ravenshead--Paul Dresher Ensemble
Minmax 0111

The Basketball Diaries (w/ Flea)
Island Records 314-524-093-2

intercambio exchange:
computer music from Buneos Aires and California
CRMA LIPM CRCA

State of the Bass
Robert Black w/Big & Cheap by Basso Bongo
o.o. Discs 14

Percussion 1--Sound Library
Prosonus Volume 1

Music from SEAMUS
Volume 3 EAM-9402

Pending release:

CD of all Edgar Varese produced by Frank Zappa with Ensemble Modern, Amy Knoles guest artist

aknoles@calarts.edu