Sarah Weaver: Home
Sarah Weaver
Composer, Conductor, Researcher, Technologist
Telematic Music
Sarah Weaver is a New York-based composer, conductor, researcher, and technologist working internationally as a specialist in telematic music for large contemporary ensembles. Telematic music is real-time performance via the internet by musicians in different geographic locations. Concerts take place over high-bandwidth internet with specialized telematic audio and video technology to achieve real-time and “real-space” performance. As a composer and conductor in telematic music she explores the inherent artistic properties of the medium within her contemporary music works.
Recent projects include “Inspiraling: Telematic Jazz Explorations”, a telematic concert between New York and San Diego featuring four premiered pieces by Mark Dresser, Gerry Hemingway, Oliver Lake, and Weaver; “ResoNations: An International Telematic Music Concert for Peace”, in 2009 between the United Nations Headquarters in New York, San Diego, Canada, Belfast, and Korea, featuring four premiered pieces by Chris Chafe, Mark Dresser and Weaver, Jun Kim, and Pedro Rebelo, and in 2010 between the United Nations Headquarters in New York, China, and Korea, featuring three premiered pieces by Yoon Jeong Heo, Min Xiao-Fen, and Weaver, with education session in Abu Dhabi featuring student works; and “Deep Tones for Peace”, a telematic concert between Jerusalem and New York for peace in the Middle East, featuring performances by thirteen renowned bassists and premiered bass ensemble pieces by Mark Dresser and Weaver, JC Jones, Barre Phillips, and William Parker.
Weaver has presented research on telematic music at Stanford University for the workshop "Network Musical Performance (NMP): Technical and Artistic Strategies to Perform Around the Globe"; the Banff Centre for “ANET II High Quality Audio over Networks Summit”; Northwestern University, University of Denver, and University of California Santa Cruz for “International Society for Improvised Music Conference”; United Nations Headquarters in New York for “Innovation Talks Symposium I, II, and III”; and New York University for “ResoNations Videoconference Panel”, among others. Weaver has writings in publications such as the Leonardo Music Journal, International Society for Improvised Music, International Association of Schools of Jazz, and MusicWorks.
Weaver is also a composer and conductor of localized large ensemble works. A virtuoso in the conducted language Soundpainting for 14 years and now developing original hybrid conducting language for her works, Weaver utilizes this language to process composed palettes through structured improvisation. Recent projects include “s/p(l)ace” at the Stone in New York, “Cohe(a)rence” at Somewhere There in Toronto, “Spectral Syn” by Mark Dresser and Weaver at Roulette in New York, “Sema” at the Quiet Music Festival in Ireland, and “Atone” in Budapest, Hungary. Weaver has taught workshops on this work at education institutions such as the University of Michigan, University of Iowa, The New School, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and University College Cork.
A graduate of the University of Michigan and New York University, with additional extensive study with composers Walter Thompson and Pauline Oliveros, Weaver was also the Executive Director and Conference Director of the International Society for Improvised Music 2004-2008 and now serves on the Advisory Council.
Currently Weaver teaches telematic music at New York University and pursues ongoing telematic music projects in the performance field.