Michael J. Schumacher

Michael J. Schumacher (Company Music Advisor) has collaborated with Liz Gerring since they were both students in the 1980s. Their work together has ranged from reworking Bach piano suites to day-long “dance installations”. Schumacher's specific interests are in the areas of electronic music, improvisation, algorithmic composition and spatialized sound. His works have been presented in galleries, museums and concert halls, as well as in public and private spaces. His most recent project is the Portabe Multi-channel Sound System, a 12 channel sound system that fits in a suitcase.

Schumacher's interest in the relationship of musical form and architecture led to the founding of Diapason, a gallery devoted to the presentation of multi-channel sound installations, long-duration performances and intermedia artworks. In its 15 years of existence, Diapason presented over 300 artists, at a time when sound art was emerging as a distinct practice in the United States.
 
Schumacher studied music composition with Stanley Applebaum, Bernhard Heiden, John Eaton and Vincent Persichetti and piano with Seymour Bernstein, John Ogdon and Shigeo Neriki, and has degrees from Indiana University and Juilliard. He has received awards and residencies from NYFA, Harvestworks, Rennsellaer , DAAD and others. He's an adjunct professor at NYU and has guest-lectured at Bard and RPI as well as having recently been the Varèse professor at Berlin's TU.

Past Collaborators: 

John Luther Adams (Composer)

Burt Barr (visual artist)

Vittoria Chierici (visual artist)

Amith Chandrashaker (lighting designer)

JACK Quartet (musicians)

 Kay Rosen (visual artist)

Ursula Scherrer (visual artist)

Jennifer Tipton (lighting designer)

Robert Wierzel (lighting designer)