Rochester, NY – Rochester audiences will have the chance to gain a firsthand understanding of the history of modern and popular music when Robert Moog – inventor of the first line of electronic music synthesizers – presents a slide lecture at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, November 30, in Room 101 of the Old Sibley Library at the Eastman School of Music (26 Gibbs St.). The presentation, which will focus on the history of electronic music, is part of MoogFest, a three-day festival held at venues across Western New York. The lecture (the only event being held at Eastman) is free and open to the public.
Robert Moog, who lived and worked in Buffalo from 1971-1977, created a line of instruments in the 1960s that were used by musicians ranging from rock groups such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Emerson, Lake, & Palmer, to composers such as John Cage, to amateur keyboardists across the world. For nearly 40 years, his modular synthesizers have formed the backbone of a great number of university electronic music studios.
Also a recognized proponent of the theremin (one the very first electronic instruments), Moog has been instrumental in revolutionizing both the classical and popular realms of the music industry. MoogFest organizer and Eastman Visiting Assistant Professor of Musicology Olivia Mattis explains: "Moog’s original synthesizer and the theremin have been the subjects of a surge of renewed interest in recent years, both on historical and musical grounds."
MoogFest is a presentation of New Music Alliance, a Buffalo-based non-profit organization headed by Mattis and devoted to the promotion of new and unusual music. Other events in the festival (held in the Buffalo region) include a radio broadcast, a concert of electronic music, and a booksigning. For more information about MoogFest, call 585-882-3141, or e-mail omattis@webtv.net.
###
Note to editors: A photo of Robert Moog is available.