Susan Alexjander

Susan Alexjander is an American sound artist, musical composer and teacher living and working in Portland, Oregon. Finding inspiration in the natural world and in science, she is fascinated by the vibrational frequencies of natural phenomena, ranging widely from the microscopic (elements, DNA) to the macroscopic (body rhythms, water, stars, time). She has created a microtonal system based on the frequencies of DNA, transforming natural vibrational patterns into sounds to create music. She has collaborated with both scientists and artists, and her compositions have been performed both nationally and internationally.

Susan Alexjander
2011
WebsiteOur Sound Universe

Education

Alexjander received a B.A. in English Literature, with teaching credentials, in 1966. She received a master's degree in Theory and Composition from San Jose State University, California in 1982. Although her initial musical training was classical, she became interested in the gamelan and explored Indian classical music, studying and performing with Lou Harrison.[1]

Teaching

Alexjander has taught at San Jose State and Goddard College[2] and has been an adjunct faculty member of Union Institute in Sacramento, California. She also presents workshops on the physics and metaphysics of sound. She is the Director of Science & The Arts, founded in Aptos, California to investigate the frequencies of the universe and their musical properties.[3]

Compositions and collaborations
External media
Audio
Episode 136: Good Vibrations, Science History Institute, 2011
Video
Susan Alexjander, Aqua Symposium, Documentary by Joe Good
Fluid, Dance performance, choreographed by Lavinia Magliocco, composed by Susan Alexjander, 2012
Eikos, Paloma Griffin, violin; Susan Alexjander, synthesizer; Lavinia Magliocco, dance

In one of her earliest collaborations, with biologist David W. Deamer from the University of California, Alexjander created music based on movements of the atoms and molecules that make up human DNA. An infrared spectrophotometer was used to measure the wavelength of infrared light absorbed by sections of DNA and to identify frequencies for each DNA molecule. The ratios of the light frequencies were then converted into perceptible ratios of sound frequencies, often involving microtonal changes, to create "strange, beautiful music".[4] The resulting album Sequencia, a pioneering experiment in sound creation, was recorded on Earth Day, 1990.[3] Its tuning system, a type of Just intonation,[5] is based on the molecular frequencies of the four bases of DNA: adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine.[6][7] It includes 60 tones over a range of two-and-a-half octaves, around a spontaneous "tonal center". Alexjander's compositions in this tonal system are influenced by the microtonal nature of Indian classical music.[5]

"The magic of 'mapping' frequencies from one medium to another allows us to hear inner, unheard sounds... Everything is talking to everything else!"[8]

Other collaborations include:

  • film soundtracks for video installations Into Being - The River (2003), Zero Waiting (2005)[9] and Fragile Memories (2015) with filmmaker Diana Hobson[10]
  • Music for Rebecca Kamen's installation Divining Nature: An Elemental Garden (2010)[11]
  • Eikos (2012) for violin, synthesizer and dancer Lavinia Magliocco[12][13]
  • Traces of the Cosmos (2012) with Jan Madill (painter)[14]
  • Coming On The Backs of Whales, soundtrack for Ocean with a room-sized cloth sculpture by Thais Mazur[15] and cinema photography by Lisa Denning[16][17]
  • Crazy Jane performances with Cascadia Composers[8][18][19][20]
  • Continuum (2015) multimedia installation, in collaboration with sculptor Rebecca Kamen, featuring Portal: Black Holes/White Holes (2015) and NeuroCantos. In Portal Alexjander creates a soundscape using sonic frequencies to represent a pair of orbiting black holes, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s discovery of general relativity[21] In NeuroCantos, Alexjander combines sounds based on neurons firing, with the words of poet Steven J. Fowler and scientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal.[22]

Awards

References
  1. "Susan Alexjander, CV" (PDF). Our Sound Universe. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  2. Alexjander, Susan. "Entering the Great Sound Current and Riding the Wave ( Keynote speech given at Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont at Health Arts & Sciences Graduation, July, 2001)". The Wellness Goods Water News. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  3. Alexjander, Susan. "Microcosmic Music - A New Level of Intensity". All things healing. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  4. Whitehouse, David (November 26, 1998). "Listen to your DNA". BBC News. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  5. Jensen, Marc (Spring 2004). "Just Intonation and the Frequencies of DNA: the Music of Susan Alexjander" (PDF). 1/1 , the Journal of the Just Intonation Network. 11 (4): 9–11. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  6. Greenia, Mark (2001). Energy dynamics : conscious human evolution : axioms and resources for personal growth, balance, and the evolution of your body's energy systems. Bloomington, Ind.: Unlimited Pub. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-1588320087. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  7. "Sequencia (CD) The Music of DNA". Sound Remedies. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  8. "Susan Alexjander". Oregon ComposersWatch Directory. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  9. "Diane Hobson". Vimeo. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  10. "Vessel Gallery presents Fragile Memories by Diana Hobson". Vessel Gallery. 2015-07-03. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  11. Hodara, Susan (July 25, 2014). "Putting the A in STEAM". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  12. Campbell, Brett (January 31, 2012). "One More Round of Fertile Ground Reviews". Willamette Week. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  13. "Groovin' Greenhouse Reviewed". Polaris Dance Theatre. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  14. "Traces of the Cosmos film". Jan Madill. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  15. "Project Collaborators". The Zuvuya Project. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  16. "OCEAN Sculpture Installation". Mazur Arts. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  17. Lucas-Zenk, Carolyn (January 31, 2014). "Underwater understanding: A multimedia art installation increases ocean awareness". West Hawaii Today. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  18. Campbell, Brett (January 29, 2014). "Concert reviews: Cascadia Composers' "Blackout" and "Crazy Jane Misbehaves"". Oregon Artswatch. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  19. Campbell, Brett (January 18, 2016). "Oregon contemporary classical music: Golden age?". Oregon Artswatch. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  20. "Susan Alexjander". Crazy Jane Composers. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  21. Kamen, Rebecca. "Portal: Artist's Statement". Rebecca Kamen. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  22. Rems, Janet (January 7, 2016). "Exhibition celebrates art's ability to re-imagine science". Fairfax County Times. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
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