Elliott Sharp

Biography

Elliott Sharp was born on March 1, 1951, and works as a composer, multi-instrumentalist, performer, author, and visual artist. He has been a key figure in New York City’s avant-garde and experimental music scene since the late 1970s, with over eighty-five recordings spanning contemporary classical, free improvisation, jazz, orchestral music, noise, no wave, and electronic music.

In the 1980s, he was a pioneer in using personal computers for live performance through his Virtual Stance project. Since the 1970s, he has applied algorithms and Fibonacci numbers to his compositions, often citing literature as an influence and favoring improvisation. He performs frequently on guitar, saxophone, and bass clarinet, and has led ensembles such as Terraplane, Orchestra Carbon, and SysOrk, which focuses on algorithmic and graphic scores.

Sharp began classical piano training early, adding clarinet and guitar as a teenager. He studied anthropology, music, and electronics at Cornell University from 1969 to 1971, then earned a B.A. from Bard College in 1973, where he studied composition with Benjamin Boretz and Elie Yarden, jazz and ethnomusicology with Roswell Rudd, and physics and electronics with Burton Brody. He received an M.A. from the University at Buffalo in 1977, studying composition with Morton Feldman and Lejaren Hiller, and ethnomusicology with Charles Keil.

From the late 1970s, he built an international career. His compositions have been performed by the JACK Quartet, Kronos Quartet, Ensemble Musikfabrik, the hr-Sinfonieorchester, Ensemble Modern, Continuum, the Orchestra of the SEM Ensemble, FLUX Quartet, Zeitkratzer, the Soldier String Quartet, and Hilary Hahn. His work has appeared at festivals including Other Minds 2021, RuhrTriennale 2018, Huddersfield 2018, MaerzMuzik Berlin 2014, Tomorrow Festival Shenzhen 2012, New Music Stockholm 2008, Donaueschingen 2007, Hessischer Rundfunk Klangbiennale 2007, Venice Biennale 2003 and 2006, and Darmstädter Ferienkurse 2003.

He has collaborated with Christian Marclay, Nels Cline, Bobby Previte, Z’EV, Joey Baron, David Torn, Eric Mingus, Zeena Parkins, Vernon Reid, Frances-Marie Uitti, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Hubert Sumlin, Eric Bogosian, Jack DeJohnette, Sonny Sharrock, Debbie Harry, and Bachir Attar. He curated MoMA PS1’s sound-art exhibition “Volume: Bed of Sound,” featuring 54 artists including Vito Acconci, Tod Dockstader, John Duncan, Walter Murch, Muhal Richard Abrams, Laurie Anderson, Chris & Cosey, Survival Research Laboratories, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sonic Youth, and Butch Morris.

Sharp produces records for many artists and has curated State of the Union compilations of one-minute tracks. He releases music on his own label zOaR music, as well as SST, Knitting Factory, and Tzadik. He describes himself as a lifelong science geek, modifying and creating instruments since his teens and borrowing scientific terms for his compositions. He received the 2015 Berlin Prize in Musical Composition, a 2014 Guggenheim Fellowship, was a 2009 Master Artist-in-Residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow in 2010 and 2019, and a 2003 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award.

Guitar Player magazine’s 30th anniversary issue named him among “The Dirty Thirty – Pioneers and Trailblazers.” His 60th birthday was celebrated in 2011 with “E#@60” at ISSUE Project Room, and his 70th in 2021 with “E#@70” at Roulette. He lives in lower Manhattan with media artist Janene Higgins and their two children.

Discography

Sharp's solo recordings begin with Resonance (1979) and Rhythms and Blues (1980), and continue through Looppool (1988), K!L!A!V! (1990), Westwerk (1992), the Tectonics series (1995, 1997, 1999, 2010), Sferics (1996), Velocity of Hue (2004), Quadrature (2005), Sharp? Monk? Sharp! Monk! (2006), Solo Beijing (2007), Concert in Dachau (2008), the Octal series (Book One 2008, Book Two 2010, Book Three 2014 for solo 8-string guitarbass, Book Four 2022), The Yahoos Trilogy (2013), Isosceles (2020), Cryptid Fragments 1991-1996 (2020), Karman Lines (2021), Steppe (2023), and The Collapsed Wave (2023).

As a leader, he released Nots (1981) with Art Baron, Olu Dara, Bill Laswell, and others; I/S/M:R (1982); In the Land of the Yahoos (1987); Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Yahoos (1992); Dyners Club Guitar Quartet (1994); Boodlers (1995) and Boodlers – Counter Fit (1997); the Arc series (1996, 1998, 1998); Autar (2000) with the Bedouin Musicians of Muhammad Abu-Ajaj; Raw Meet (2002); Radio Hyper-Yahoo (2004); War Zones (2008); Christian Marclay: Graffiti Composition (2010) with Melvin Gibbs, Mary Halvorson, Lee Ranaldo, Vernon Reid; Electric Willie: a Tribute to Willie Dixon (2010); Err Guitar (2017); and Syzygy (2019).

With Carbon, he released Monster Curve (1982), Datacide (1989), Sili/contemp/tation (1990), Tocsin (1991), Truthtable (1993), Autoboot (1994), Amusia (1994), Interference (1995), Serrate (2009), Void Coordinates (2010), and Amsterdam Live 2010 (2023). With Orchestra Carbon, he released Larynx (1988, 2007), Abstract Repressionism: 1990–99 (1992), Spring & Neap (1997), Rheo~Umbra (1998), SyndaKit (1999), Radiolaria (2001), and Quarks Swim Free (2006).

String quartet recordings include Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup (1987) with Soldier String Quartet and Carbon; Twistmap (1991); Cryptid Fragments (1993); XenocodeX (1996); A Modicum of Passion (2004); Elliott Sharp String Quartets 1986–1996 (2003); The Boreal (2009) performed by JACK Quartet; Tranzience (2013) performed by JACK Quartet; and Akheron (2014) premiered by JACK Quartet. Orchestral works include Racing Hearts, Tessalation Row, Calling (2003); Plastovy Hrad (2018); Oceanus Procellarum; and Occam's Machete (2023) premiered by SysOrk.

With SysOrk, he released Sylva Sylvarum 2014 (2020), ReGenerate (2021), and Flexagons 2014 (2022). With Terraplane, he released Terraplane (1994), Terraplane – Blues for Next (2000), Terraplane – Music fr Yellowman (2002), and Terraplane – Do the Don't (2003).

Installations

Sharp's sound installations include Chorale (2019), an 8-channel work at Geoff Stern Art Space in Berlin. Suspension (2004), a 2-channel video and sound installation with Janene Higgins, was shown at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York City.

Fluvial (2002) used randomization, filtering, and feedback to create moving sound currents at Engine 27 gallery. Chromatine (2001) functioned as both musical instrument and sculpture, encouraging visitor touch. Tag (1997) was an interactive audio installation at MoMA PS1's Clocktower Gallery, and Distressed Vivaldi (1996) was a soundtrack for the Model Home exhibition at the same venue.