Elliott Sharp (born March 1, 1951) is an American contemporary classical composer, multi-instrumentalist, performer, author, and visual artist.[1][2][3]
A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City since the late 1970s,[4][5] Sharp has released over eighty-five recordings ranging from contemporary classical, avant-garde, free improvisation, jazz, experimental, and orchestral music to noise, no wave, and electronic music. He pioneered the use of personal computers in live performance with his Virtual Stance project of the 1980s.[6] He has used algorithms and fibonacci numbers in experimental composition since the 1970s, and has cited literature as an inspiration for his music and often favors improvisation.[7][8] He is an inveterate performer, playing mainly guitar, saxophone and bass clarinet. Sharp has led many ensembles over the years, including the blues-oriented Terraplane, Orchestra Carbon, and SysOrk, a group dedicated to the realization of algorithmic and graphic scores.[9][10]
He produces records for a wide variety of artists, and has curated several State of the Union CDs, compilations of one-minute tracks by experimental musicians. He releases music under his own label, zOaR music, as well as punk label SST and downtown music labels such as Knitting Factory records and John Zorn’s Tzadik label. Sharp describes himself as a lifelong "science geek",[13] having modified and created musical instruments since his teen years, and frequently borrowing terms from science and technology for his compositions.
Elliott Sharp live at Jazz Festival in Saalfelden, 2009
Sharp received the 2015 Berlin Prize in Musical Composition, spending six months as a Fellow-in-Residence at the American Academy in Berlin.[14] He was awarded a 2014 Guggenheim Fellowship, was a 2009 Master Artist-in-Residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow in music in 2010 and 2019, and received a 2003 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award.[15] He has composed scores for feature films and documentaries,[16] created music and sound-design for The Sundance Channel, MTV and Bravo networks; and has presented numerous sound installations in art galleries and museums. Guitar Player magazine’s 30th anniversary issue included Sharp among their list of “The Dirty Thirty – Pioneers and Trailblazers”.
In March 2011, Sharp's 60th birthday was celebrated with a weekend of all-star concert events entitled "E#@60", hosted by Brooklyn's ISSUE Project Room.[17] In March 2021, his 70th birthday was celebrated with a series of concert events entitled “E#@70”, presented by Brooklyn’s Roulette.[18]
Sharp lives in lower Manhattan with media artist Janene Higgins and their two children.[19]
Discography
Solo
The Collapsed Wave (2023)
Steppe (2023)
Octal: Book Four (2022)
Karman Lines (2021)
Isosceles (2020)
Cryptid Fragments 1991-1996 (2020)
Octal Book Three (2014) for solo 8-string guitarbass
I/S/M:R (1982) with Michael Brown, Al Diaz, David Linton
In the Land of the Yahoos (1987) with Christoph Anders, Sussan Deihim, Elizabeth Fischer, David Fulton, Paul Garrin, Shelley Hirsch, Shigeto Kamada, Christian Marclay, Jane Tomkiewicz
Arc 2: The Seventies (1998) with, Steve Piccolo, Geoff MacAdie, Stewart Gilbert, Kunda Magenau, Denis Williamson, Murry Kohn, Donald Knaack, Bobby Previte, Jim Whittemore, Chris Vine
Arc 3: Cyberpunk & the Virtual Stance (1998)
Autar (2000) with the Bedouin Musicians of Muhammad Abu-Ajaj
A Modicum of Passion (2004) with (vocals) Devorah Day, Ben Miller, Eric Mingus [de], Joan Wasser; and (strings) Stephanie Griffin, Conrad Harris, Amy Kimball, Garo Yellin
Elliott Sharp String Quartets 1986–1996 (2003) with Soldier String Quartet and The Meridian Quartet
The Boreal (2009) performed and recorded by JACK Quartet
Tranzience (2013) performed and recorded by JACK Quartet
Akheron (2014) premiered by JACK Quartet
Orchestral
Racing Hearts, Tessalation Row, Calling (2003)
Plastovy Hrad (2018) commissioned by Brno Contemporary Orchestra and conducted by Pavel Snajdr.
Oceanus Procellarum commissioned and premiered by Ensemble Resonanz, Kampnagel, Hamburg and Huddersfield Festival, UK.
Occam's Machete (2023) premiered by Sharp's SysOrk string ensemble
Chorale (2019): 8-channel sound installation at Geoff Stern Art Space, Berlin.
Suspension (2004): 2-channel installation of video and sound exploring the awareness of momentary stillness in the metropolis. Collaboration with video artist Janene Higgins, for The Chelsea Art Museum, NYC.
Fluvial (2002): A system for flowing audio to create moving sound currents within the enclosed space of the Engine 27 gallery in NYC, Fluvial uses randomization, filtering, and feedback as its basic processing elements to make full use of the room's spatialization potential.
Chromatine (2001): Both musical instrument and sculpture, encouraging visitors to touch the sculpture and cause it to play music. For the Gallery of the School of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Tag (1997): An interactive audio installation created for the Departure Lounge exhibition at the Clocktower Gallery of MoMA PS1, New York City.
Distressed Vivaldi (1996): Soundtrack created for the Model Home exhibition at the Clocktower Gallery of MoMA PS1, New York City.
