marc faris
composer.guitarist.scholar

office: Duke University, Box 90665, Durham, NC 27708
home: 1409 Alabama Avenue, Durham, NC 27705
email mrf@duke.edu
phone 919.660.3319
fax 919.660.3301
http://www.duke.edu/~mrf/home.htm

CURRICULUM VITA
references on request

education

DUKE UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC, Durham, NC
Ph.D., Music Composition (2003)
Dissertation composition: Cultural Studies for brass quartet, rock quartet and amplified string quartet
Dissertation article: “’That Chicago Sound’: Playing with Identity in Underground Rock” (publication pending)
Advisor: Scott Lindroth
AM, Music Composition (2000)

EASTMAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC, Rochester, NY
B.M., Music Composition (1994)
Senior project: Symphony No. 1: Ragemusics and Dream Fragments for actor, brass choir, SATB chorus, piano, electric guitar and percussion ensemble
Major teachers: Samuel Adler, Warren Benson, Robert Morris, Joseph Schwantner

awards and honors

Artist Fellow, North Carolina Arts Council, 2003-4
Composer in residence, The Governor’s School of North Carolina Chorus, 2002
Nominee, American Academy of Arts and Letters, 2002
Composer in residence, Chamber Music Conference and Composers Forum of the East Summer Festival, 2001
Finalist, ALEA III International Composition Competition, 2000
Winner, William Klenz Composition Prize, 2000 and 2001
James B. Duke Fellowship, 1998-2003
John & Linda Voorham Composition Scholarship, 1992-4
Lois B. Lane Merit Scholarship, 1990-4


professional services and affiliations

Durham Arts Council, Season Grants Panel (2004)
Peer reviews for Popular Music and Society and The Musical Quarterly (2000-present)
American Music Center, member (2002-present)
The College Music Society, member (2001-present)
ASCAP, member (1999-present)
pulsoptional new music ensemble + composers collective, co-director (1999-present)


teaching experience

COLLEGIATE

DUKE UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC, Durham, NC
• Visiting Assistant Professor, Fall 2003-present
COURSES:
“Theory & Practice of Tonal Music II”: introduction to chromatic harmony, formal analysis, and compositional techniques of music from 1650-1800; refinement of listening, singing and keyboard skills; directed composition projects in common forms
“Theory & Practice of Tonal Music III”: advanced chromatic and formal techniques in nineteenth-century music, as well as an introduction to analysis of post tonal and popular music; further development of practical skills; intensive engagement with compositional practice through large-form analysis and extended composition projects
“Music, Sound, Style & Self”: broad overview of musical practice, criticism and meaning, primarily intended for non-majors; development of listening and critical writing and verbal skills; engagement with interdisciplinary analysis, composition and performance

DUKE UNIVERSITY, HOUSE COURSE PROGRAM, Durham, NC
• Guest Instructor, Spring 2003
“Genre and Canon Formation: Case Studies in American Independent Rock”: discussion-based seminar rooted in an exploration of 1980s indie rock; engagement with primary source readings; analysis from multiple perspectives, including music/sound analysis, cultural studies, critical theory, gender and race studies, theories of subculture, and others

DUKE UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC, Durham, NC
• Graduate Instructor, Fall 2000-Spring 2002
COURSES:
“Introduction to Music Theory”: fundamentals of tonal music; development of skills in listening, score analysis and composition
“Critical Theories of Underground Rock”: writing and discussion-based seminar; survey of a broad range of writings on popular musics and subcultural practice; analysis from multiple perspectives; field work and extended written projects
“Alternative Histories: Analysis of Non-Mainstream Music”: writing and discussion-based seminar; similar to “Critical Theories” course, but emphasizing a historical overview of outsider musical expression

• Teaching Assistant in Music Theory and Aural Skills Lab Instructor, Fall 1999-Spring 2000

OTHER

TALENT IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM OF DUKE UNIVERSITY, Durham, NC
• Co-Instructor, Summer 2002
"Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Music" (intensive 3-week seminar in history and aesthetics for gifted high school students)

PRIVATE STUDIO, Rochester, NY; Chapel Hill and Durham, NC
• Instructor in Composition, Theory, and Electric Guitar, 1994-present


other experience & skills

Technology: Partner in two grant applications for Center for Instructional Technology Consortium Grant (Duke University), 2002 and 2004. Extensive working knowledge of music software and environments, including Digital Performer, ProTools, Cubase, Peak, SoundHack, Acid, Csound, MAX, and theory CAI programs. Experienced in sound design and amplification, recording engineering, network management of computer-music studio, graphic design, and Web development.
Co-director, pulsoptional new-music ensemble and composers collective, 1999-present. Organize and lead rehearsals and performances; write grants for commissioning fund; create advertising and promotional materials; recruit new members.
Co-organizer, transmissions festival, 1998-9. Manage budget, travel arrangements, venue and equipment consultant, staffing for multi-day festivals of new experimental and electronic music and video.
Performance coordinator, Pyramid Arts Center, Rochester, NY, 1994-5.
Co-director, Glenn Branca workshops and concerts, Rochester, NY, December 1994.
Performer: Electric guitarist (16 years experience). Fluent in rock and experimental idioms, with emphasis on extended technique, prepared guitar and improvisation. Recorded and performed widely in ensemble and solo settings. Extensive conducting experience.
Foreign languages: Fluent reading knowledge and basic conversational ability in French. Basic reading comprehension of German, Spanish and Italian.

selected compositions, performances and commissions

IN PROGRESS
• An Alternative Community for large ensemble (in progress). Commissioned by the North Carolina Arts Council.
• Bagatelles pour un piano d'abusé for prepared piano (in progress). Commissioned by Jennifer Fitzgerald; premiered August 24, 2003, (first two movements), Patzcuaro, Mexico.

2003
• Electronic music and soundscape for the play Why Things Burn (d. Jody McAuliffe). Commissioned by Duke University Department of Theater Studies; premiered November 20-23, 2003, American Society for Theatre Research Conference, Duke University.
• Cultural Studies for brass quartet, rock band and amplified string quartet. Premiered October 4, 2003, Encounters: With the Music of Our Time series concert, Duke University.
• Music for the film First Note (d. John Meyers).

2002
• The hours, keepers of Heaven for large chorus (2002). Commissioned by the North Carolina Governor’s School Chorus; premiered July 20, 2002, Salem College, Winston-Salem, NC.

2001
• “…move on the colored flood” for oboe, violin, viola and contrabass. Commissioned by the Chamber Music Conference and Composers’ Forum of the East; premiered August 1, 2001, Bennington College, Bennington, VT.
• table of content for flute/alto flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, viola and cello. Premiered February 12, 2002, eighth blackbird masterclass, Duke University.

2000
• SeizureSOUND, installation. Commissioned by transmissions oo3 festival; premiered July 21, 2000, Go! Rehearsal Studios, Carrboro, NC.
• VLC for violoncello. Commissioned by Wayne Smith; premiered April 14, 2001, Duke University.
• SIDE 1 for large ensemble. Premiered November 20, 2000, Duke University.

1999
• Facing for soprano and string quartet (1999). Premiered March 31, 2000, Duke University; second performance, September 20, 2001 ALEA III International Composition Competition).
• soundsofwalls for solo electronics (1999). Premiered December 10, 1999, Duke University.

1998 and earlier
• ±PNO for piano with seven performers (1998). Premiered November 19, 1999, Duke University.
• Absolutemusic for violin and tape (1996). Commissioned by Erika Kim; premiered April 14, 1996, Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY.
• timeplay No. 1 for solo drum set (1995). Commissioned by Shane Shanahan; premiered April 14, 1995, Eastman School of Music.
• Symphony No. 1: Ragemusics and Dream Fragments for actor, brass choir, SATB chorus, piano, electric guitar and percussion ensemble (1993-4). Premiered April 7 1994, Pyramid Arts Center, Rochester, NY.
• Ke-Go-Way-Se-Kah for soprano, oboe, percussion and string quartet (1993, rev. 1997). Commissioned by Morpheus Chamber Ensemble; premiered November 4, 1993, Eastman School of Music; second performance August 1997, Toronto, ON.


research interests

Underground rock and free improvisation: developing critical theories of undertheorized musics, local scenes as sites of musical and social analysis, genre and identity construction, competence as a stylistic marker, alternative economics, historical studies, iconography
Experimentalism and minimalism: American and British traditions since 1950, changing notions of virtuosity in composition and performance, questions of influence, concept vs. formal concerns, exoticism and its meaning
Audio theory: histories and theories of recording technologies, early concepts of phonography, digital vs. analog sound, synaesthesia,
Musical semiotics: applications of linguistic theories and Peirce’s tripartite semiotics to music


selected papers and presentations
• “’That Chicago Sound’: Playing With Local Identity in Underground Rock.” Published in Popular Music And Society, 27:4, Winter 2004 (forthcoming).
• “Composing a New Music Ensemble in North Carolina: Local Audiences and the Black Mountain College Experimental Tradition” (co-authored with Jennifer Fitzgerald). Presented to the South Central Graduate Student Consortium, University of Virginia, September 13, 2003.
• “’The Guitar’s Turned Off, The Gas Tank’s Empty’: American Indie Rock as Narrative/Ideology/Genre.” Presented to the American Musicological Society, Southeast Chapter Meeting, Duke University, February 8, 2003; and to the McGill Graduate Music Symposium, McGill University, March 22, 2003.
• “’Je suis un’ petite américaine’: Parade and Satie’s (American) Exoticism.” Presented to “The Diaghelev Ballet: 1909-1929” class, Duke University, October 10, 2001.
• “Extended Techniques for Electric Guitar.” Presented to Music Department Colloquium, Duke University, February 13, 1999.


selected performance and recording activities

pulsoptional new-music ensemble and composers collective, conductor, electric guitar, percussion, and keyboards; 1999-present. Recipient of 2004-5 Henry Cowell Performance Incentive Fund Grant (American Music Center). Repertoire emphasizes experimental traditions, including works by Cornelius Cardew, John Cage, Henry Cowell, Alvin Curran, Morton Feldman, Lukas Foss, Lou Harrison, Daniel Lentz, Daniel Lentz, Steve Reich, Erik Satie, as well as new works by emerging composers and members of the collective. Frequent concertizing in a wide range of venues.

The Sames, E.P CD (electric guitar, keyboards, vocals and sound design), Pox, 2002.

marc faris, DRONE-ON THIS; Or, Why the “New Minimalism” is Underground Rock’s Biggest Lie limited-edition CD-R (electric guitar, keyboards, vocals, and sound design), Carbon, 2001.

sq, 07.29.00 limited edition CD-R (electric guitar), Carbon, 2001.
–––, _moments imaginaires (8988) CD (electric guitar, drums, vocals, and sound design), Carbon, 2000.
–––, Monosite CD-EP (electric guitar, drums, and keyboards), Carbon, 1998.
speed Queen, big leaves on a small tree CD (electric guitar, electric bass, electronics and vocals), Carbon, 1997.

Arranged and conducted string ensembles for Muler (The State of Play, Dedicated, 1997), Gerty (The Metrosexual EP, Ambiguous City, 2004), others