Stephen Nachmanovitch

One of few creative improvising string players in recent times, Stephen Nachmanovitch is also a prominent author, computer artist, educator, and lecturer. Born in 1950, he heard many classical violinists as a youth, but in the 1970s became a pioneer in free music expressionism on acoustic and electric violins and viola, opening up many extended techniques. He studied at Harvard and the University of California-Berkeley, where he earned a Ph.D. in the History of Consciousness on an exploratory theme based on the writings of William Blake. His mentor was the renowned English anthropologist and philosopher Gregory Bateson, whose wife was the equally acclaimed Margaret Mead. As an academician, Nachmanovitch has taught and lectured in the United States and abroad on creativity and the spiritual aspects of art. He has presented master classes or workshops at the Yehudi Menuhin School, Julliard, and many other conservatories and universities. Ongoing collaborations with artists in music, dance, theater, and film prevail, and he has developed programs melding mixed media with literature and computer technology. Among his recorded works are Ludi Fecundus and Saraswati Steps Up to Bat (solo), Merging at Merging One with flute player Ellen Schimmel Burr, and Electric and Acoustic Improvisations, Vol. 1 with fellow violinist Timothy Summers. DVDs include Taming the Mind Ox & Theater Games and Job Returns -- A Meditation on William Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job. He has published many articles in a variety of fields, and is the author of the prominent book Free Play: Improvisation in Life & Art (Penguin-Putnam, 1990). In recent years he has created computer software including the World Music Menu and the Visual Music Tone Painter, and he performed Lysistrata at Live Arts in Virginia in early 2008. Nachmanovitch is a resident of Charlottesville, VA.
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