In 2013, electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick bestowed to URBAN-15 a series of intimate concerts where attendees had the incredible opportunity to listen to sounds from the influential composer’s works “Silver Apples of the Moon” and “A Sky of Cloudless Sulphur” (Link to 2013 Performance). Now, as a celebration of his 90 years of age, Subotnick makes a return to our studio, bringing with him a distinct sampling of sounds in a new series of performances he has dubbed “As I Live and Breathe”. Subotnick has chosen six cities for this 2023 tour; Venice, Berlin, New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Antonio.

URBAN-15 will have the honor of hosting three Subotnick performances on November 10, 11, and 12, a free screening of “SUBOTNICK-Portrait of An Electronic Pioneer”, and an “Open Conversation” in a panel-type setting where guests will have a rare opportunity to converse with the composer himself. In contrast to his typical Buchla Modular Synthesizer, Subotnick will employ the use of a digital, on-screen version, of the famous Buchla 200e. In addition to the live sounds that will be produced on-site, attendees will also view psychedelic visual projections by German video artist Lillevan as part of the mind-expanding experience that is a Morton Subotnick performance.

Morton Subotnick is one of the pioneers in the development of electronic music and an innovator in works involving instruments and other media, including interactive computer music systems. The work which brought Subotnick celebrity was Silver Apples of the Moon [1966-7], a composition commissioned by Nonesuch Records. It has become a modern classic and was entered into the coveted National Register of Recorded Works at the Library of Congress. In 1962, Mr. Subotnick and fellow composer Ramon Sender founded the San Francisco Tape Music Center. They longed for electronic sound-generating equipment that was more flexible, integrated and accommodating to the creative process than any then available. The same year, across the bay in Berkeley, Donald Buchla started his electronic music equipment company. With help from a Rockefeller Foundation grant, the two composers commissioned Buchla to develop new equipment to meet their creative needs. The result was the Buchla 100, an expandable modular system that was relatively economical and compact enough to be taken out of the lab and into concert venues. Subotnick has been actively composing since the late 1940’s and continues breaking barriers to this day.