American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 30 (2009) Winner
George E. Lewis
ジョージ・E・ルイス
George E. Lewis
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1952-07-14 （Chicago, Illinois, U.S.）
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Chicago (birth / childhood) → New Haven (Yale University student) → San Diego (UC San Diego faculty) → New York (Columbia University faculty)
Career
- Occupations
- Musician, Composer, Trombonist, Musicologist, Professor
- Active Years
- 1971-
- Affiliations
- Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), Columbia University (Department of Music)
- Memberships
- Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Fellow), British Academy (Corresponding Fellow), American Academy of Arts and Letters (Member)
- Influenced By
- Muhal Richard Abrams, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Roscoe Mitchell
- Influenced
- Nicole Mitchell, International Contemporary Ensemble, Younger experimental musicians and scholar-practitioners
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Chicago Laboratory Schools | — | — | — | 1961–1969 | United States |
| Yale University | — | Philosophy | 学士（哲学） | 1969–1974 | United States |
University of Chicago Laboratory Schools
Period:
1961–1969
Year of Graduation:
1969
Country:
United States
Primary and secondary education (Lab School)
Yale University
Philosophy
Degree:
学士（哲学）
Period:
1969–1974
Year of Graduation:
1974
Country:
United States
Entered prelaw program; studied music theory during undergraduate years
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | MacArthur Fellowship | — | — | MacArthur Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2015 | Guggenheim Fellowship | — | — | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2009 | American Book Award | A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music | — | Before Columbus Foundation (American Book Awards) | 受賞 |
| 2011 | United States Artists Fellowship | — | — | United States Artists | 受賞 |
| 1999 | Alpert Award in the Arts | — | — | Alpert Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2009 | American Musicological Society: Music in American Culture Award | — | — | American Musicological Society | 受賞 |
| 2015 | Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences | — | — | American Academy of Arts and Sciences | 選出 |
MacArthur Fellowship
2002
Organization:
MacArthur Foundation
Result:
受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
2015
Organization:
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result:
受賞
American Book Award
2009
Work:
A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music
Organization:
Before Columbus Foundation (American Book Awards)
Result:
受賞
United States Artists Fellowship
2011
Organization:
United States Artists
Result:
受賞
Alpert Award in the Arts
1999
Organization:
Alpert Foundation
Result:
受賞
American Musicological Society: Music in American Culture Award
2009
Organization:
American Musicological Society
Result:
受賞
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2015
Organization:
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Result:
選出
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Solo Trombone Record
1976 Experimental jazz / ImprovisationAn early solo trombone album presenting improvisation and extended techniques; received critical acclaim.
improvisationextended instrumental techniquesolo performance
Voyager (interactive music system / composition)
1987 Computer music / Interactive musicAn interactive software system that 'listens' and responds to live performers; foundational to Lewis's interactive performance practice since the 1980s.
interactivityhuman-machine improvisationalgorithmic response
A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music
2008 Music history / MusicologyA detailed monograph on the history of the AACM and the development of American experimental music; acclaimed as both scholarship and community history.
Afrodiasporic musiccommunity historyimprovisation and institutions
Adaptations
- [Opera (music theatre)] Afterword: The AACM (as) Opera / Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago（公演プロデュース） (2015)
Bibliography
- A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music (University of Chicago Press, 2008)
- The Oxford Handbook of Critical Improvisation Studies (edited, 2016)
- Composing While Black: Afrodiasporic New Music Today (co-ed., 2023)
Adaptations
- Afterword: The AACM (as) Opera — premiered at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (2015)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- scholarly and analytical tonebridges music history and practicecommunity-oriented narration
- Recurring Motifs
- interactivity (machine–performer dialogue)Afrodiasporic creativitysocial and historical contexts of improvisation
Legacy
George E. Lewis, as a trombonist, composer, and music scholar, is a pioneer of interactive computer music and a key historian of the AACM. His cross-disciplinary work in performance, composition, and scholarship has expanded understanding of contemporary and improvised music.
Academic Societies
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- British Academy (Corresponding Fellow)
- American Academy of Arts and Letters
In Popular Culture
- Featured in the documentary 'Unyazi of the Bushveld' (2005)
Quotes
-
"'Is Our Machines Learning Yet?' — Machine Learning's Challenge to Improvisation and the Aesthetic"
Source: Chapter in Machinic Assemblages of Desire: Deleuze and Artistic Research 3 (2021) (2021)
Trivia
- Started trombone as a youth and gained attention with an early solo trombone album.
- Joined the AACM at age 19 in 1971.
- Graduated from Yale University with a degree in philosophy.
- Has been reported to have social connection to Skull and Bones during Yale years (per some sources).