Oakland, CA - A series of three concerts In Los Angeles, Oakland, and New York will mark the 40th anniversary of the Center for Contemporary Music (CCM) at Mills College, and its enduring legacy at the vanguard of experimental and electronic music. The first concert will be held at the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT) in Los Angeles on Sunday, October 14, 2007 at 8:30 pm, followed by a concert at Mills College on Sunday, October 21 at 4 pm, and another version of the concert in New York at the Roulette Performance Space on Thursday, November 15 at 8 pm, with three former CCM composers who currently live in New York. 

The concert lineup includes premieres of John Bischoff's “Edge Transit” for cello, bass, piano, percussion and electronics; Chris Brown's “Stupas” for vibraphone, piano, and computer; James Fei's “The Nerve Meter” for microphones and frequency-shifted feedback; Maggi Payne's “System Test (fire and ice)” electroacoustic with visuals (in LA), “Arctic Winds” (premiering at Mills), and “Distant Thunder” (in NYC); David Rosenboom's “Zones of Coherence” for trumpet and live electronics; and Mark Trayle's “Placeholder,” an audio/video work for live computer. Performers include Daniel Rosenboom, trumpet, and William Winant, percussion. Guest composers in New York will include former CCM directors Robert Ashley, David Behrman, and Pauline Oliveros.

The San Francisco Tape Music Center began in 1961 through the efforts of groundbreaking electronic-music composers Ramon Sender, Pauline Oliveros, and Morton Subotnick. It was relocated in 1966 to the Mills campus under its first director, Pauline Oliveros, and was renamed the Center for Contemporary Music in 1967. The Center’s electronic equipment, instruments, and studios comprise an exceptional facility providing instruction, technical assistance, and archived audio recordings to Mills faculty members, undergraduate and graduate students, and staff members. Also offering public concerts, lectures series, and artist residencies, CCM is one of the country’s most venerable and continuously active institutions providing the public with access to the latest trends in experimental and electronic music.

According to Derk Richardson in Oakland Magazine (“The Evolution Starts Now,” October 2007), “under the leadership of initial director (and “deep listening” innovator) Pauline Oliveros and such successors as Robert Ashley, David Rosenboom, and current co-directors Chris Brown and Maggi Payne, the CCM …remains at the vanguard of electronic and computer music.”

CCM was described in SF Weekly as "An industrious cabal which has served as a fertile nexus for trailblazing research into the live-performance possibilities offered by computers." Known for prioritizing music performance over technology research, the Center has provided a home base for successive generations of electronic music pioneers.

Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering innovative degree programs to approximately 900 undergraduate women and 500 graduate women and men. Ranked one of the top colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report and one of the Best 366 Colleges by the Princeton Review, Mills provides a dynamic liberal arts education fostering women's leadership, social responsibility, and creativity. Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California, on 135 lush acres, Mills was recently selected by the New York Times as one of three outstanding California colleges for students to consider.

PRESS CONTACT:
Deborah Dallinger
Communications Consultant
925.788.9131