Paul Dresher
Encyclopedia
Paul Joseph Dresher is an American composer
. Dresher received his B.A. in music from the University of California, Berkeley
and his M.A. in composition from the University of California, San Diego
, where he studied with Robert Erickson
, Roger Reynolds
, Pauline Oliveros
, and Bernard Rands
.
He also studied Ghanaian drumming with C. K. and Kobla Ladzekpo, Hindustani classical music with Nikhil Banerjee
, as well as Balinese and Javanese music.
Dresher's music has been variously described as minimalist
and postminimalist
. Dresher himself, poking fun at the latter term (which he perceives as fairly meaningless), has referred to himself as a "pre-maximalist," hence the name of his record label, MinMax.
Dresher served on the Board of Directors for the American Music Center
from 1994 through 2000.
Recordings of Dresher's works are available on the Lovely Music
, New World
, CRI, Music and Arts, O.O. Discs, BMG/Catalyst, MinMax, Starkland
, and New Albion labels.
He was the recipient of a 2006 Guggenheim fellowship
.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. Dresher received his B.A. in music from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
and his M.A. in composition from the University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
, where he studied with Robert Erickson
Robert Erickson
Robert Erickson was an American composer.He studied with Ernst Krenek from 1936-1947: "I had already studied—and abandoned—the twelve tone system before most other Americans had taken it up." He influenced notable students Morton Subotnick, Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley, and Paul Dresher...
, Roger Reynolds
Roger Reynolds
Roger Reynolds is an American composer born July 18, 1934 in Detroit, Michigan. He is a professor at the University of California at San Diego. He received an undergraduate degree in engineering physics from the University of Michigan where he later studied composition with Ross Lee Finney...
, Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros is an American accordionist and composer who is a central figure in the development of post-war electronic art music....
, and Bernard Rands
Bernard Rands
Bernard Rands is a composer of contemporary classical music.Rands studied music and English literature at the University of Wales, Bangor, and composition with Pierre Boulez and Bruno Maderna in Darmstadt, Germany, and with Luigi Dallapiccola and Luciano Berio in Milan, Italy.He held residencies...
.
He also studied Ghanaian drumming with C. K. and Kobla Ladzekpo, Hindustani classical music with Nikhil Banerjee
Nikhil Banerjee
Nikhil Ranjan Banerjee was a Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar Gharana who played the stringed instrument sitar.-Early life and background:...
, as well as Balinese and Javanese music.
Dresher's music has been variously described as minimalist
Minimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
and postminimalist
Postminimalism
Postminimalism is an art term coined by Robert Pincus-Witten in 1971 used in various artistic fields for work which is influenced by, or attempts to develop and go beyond, the aesthetic of minimalism...
. Dresher himself, poking fun at the latter term (which he perceives as fairly meaningless), has referred to himself as a "pre-maximalist," hence the name of his record label, MinMax.
Dresher served on the Board of Directors for the American Music Center
American Music Center
The American Music Center is a non-profit organization which aims to promote the creating, performing, and enjoying new American music. The organization was founded in 1939 by composers Marion Bauer, Aaron Copland, Howard Hanson, Harrison Kerr, Otto Luening, and Quincy Porter.The organization has a...
from 1994 through 2000.
Recordings of Dresher's works are available on the Lovely Music
Lovely Music
Lovely Music is an American record label devoted to new American music. Based in New York City, the label was founded in 1978 by Mimi Johnson, an outgrowth of her nonprofit production company Performing Artservices, Inc...
, New World
New World Records
New World Records is a record label based in New York City specialising in American music. The label was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to produce a 100 disc anthology covering 200 years of American music....
, CRI, Music and Arts, O.O. Discs, BMG/Catalyst, MinMax, Starkland
Starkland
Starkland is an independent record label based in Boulder, Colorado that specializes in alternative classical music. It was founded in 1991 by Thomas Steenland....
, and New Albion labels.
He was the recipient of a 2006 Guggenheim fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
.
External links
- Paul Dresher biography from The Paul Dresher Ensemble site
- The Paul Dresher Ensemble
- Casa Vecchia CD from Starkland
- Slow Fire CD
- surround sound DVD
- Golden, Barbara. “Conversation with Paul Drescher.” eContact! 12.2 — Interviews (2) (April 2010). Montréal: CECCanadian Electroacoustic CommunityFounded in 1986, La Communauté électroacoustique canadienne / The Canadian Electroacoustic Community is Canada’s national electroacoustic / computer music / sonic arts organization and as such is dedicated to promoting this progressive art form in its broadest definition: from “pure” acousmatic...
.