Conservatory of Music

Robert Coburn

Robert Coburn is professor of music composition and theory and has been at the University of the Pacific since 1993. He holds a B.M. from the University of the Pacific, the M.A. from the University of California-Berkeley, and the Ph.D. from the University of Victoria in Canada. Dr. Coburn is active as a composer and an environmental sound artist and is chair of the Conservatory's Department of Music Composition and Theory, director of the Computer Studio for Music Composition, and of Ensemble 20/21.

Dr. Coburn's recent compositions include In Stillness for violin, computer music, and video premiered at the Brubeck Festival (2005); TranquilTurmoil Dreaming for computer music and video (2003); PatternsLuminous for shakuhachi and computer music (2002); Voice (verse 1) for computer sound, premiered at the Symposium En Red O, Barcelona Spain (1999); Shadowbox for clarinet, premiered at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, Sweden; and Time's Shadow for clarinet and chamber orchestra, premiered at the Victoria International Music Festival, Victoria, B.C., Canada. Among his commissions are the following: Ad Vesperum for voice and 11 instruments, for the San Francisco New Music Ensemble; CANTOS for chamber orchestra, for the Sunriver Music Festival; Marking Time/Hearing Space for multiple performers and interactive technology, for the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry; Soundings, for multiple sampling keyboards, soprano saxophone, and tenor for the Portland Composers Festival; and Turnings for electric guitar and computer sound, performed at De Ijsbreker, Amsterdam, Holland.

Since 1985 Dr. Coburn has made computer technology his primary instrument. All of his recent computer music pieces are performed live utilizing Max/MSP. He has performed his works at the Electronic Music Plus Festival in North Carolina, Forum '82 Festival of New Music in New York, Roulette Fall Festival of New Music, New York, and the Society of Composers New Music Conference, Portland.

As a sound artist, Dr. Coburn creates both temporary and permanent site-specific sound environment works. Permanent works include Bell Circles II, commissioned by the Public Arts Program in Oregon for the landscape of the Oregon Convention Center; and 39 Bells, commissioned by the Public Arts Program of the City of Philadelphia for the Avenue of the Arts. Temporary sound installations include between. beyond for the Reynolds Gallery; Glasslight Presence for the Henry Gallery in Seattle; and In the Light of Time Singing for the Northwest Artists Workshop in Portland.

Dr. Coburn's research involves interdisciplinary art projects realized across cultures, new technology in performance, and the interaction of music perception and composition. He has presented papers and/or published in the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi, India; The Musical Cognition and Behavior: Relevance for Music Composition Conference, Rome, Italy; Leonardo Music Journal, MIT Press; The Pacific Centuries Conference, Melbourne, Australia; The Tuning of the World Conference, Banff Center for the Arts, Canada; and in the Portland Review. He is a member of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology; the World Forum on Acoustic Ecology; and BMI.

Conservatory of Music
University of the Pacific
3601 Pacific Avenue
Stockton, CA 95211
Voice: 209.946.2186
Fax: 209.946.2770
E-mail: Robert Coburn
Website: http://www1.pacific.edu/~rcoburn/