Margaret Mara Helmuth is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 composer. She studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, and then continued her studies at Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, graduating with a doctorate in music.

After completing her education, Helmuth took a position teaching at the University of Cincinnati

University of Cincinnati

The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....

and became director of the university's Center for Computer Music. She has published professional articles in Audible Traces, Analytical Methods of Electroacoustic Music, the Journal of New Music Research and Perspectives of New Music.

Works

Helmuth is known for electronic music. She composes for fixed format and also creates interactive installations. Selected works include:

• Mellipse (1989,1995)
• Abandoned Lake in Maine (1997)
• Bugs and ice: A Question of Focus (2002)
• Where is my Voice, for fixed format audio
• Hidden Mountain (2007)
• Staircase of Light (2003)
• Hidden Mountain 2, interactive multimedia and wireless-sensor-based installation

Her work has been recorded and issued on CD, including:

• Sound Collaborations, v.36 of the Consortium to Distribute Computer Music Series, Centaur Records
• Implements of Actuation collaborations with percussionist-composer Allen Otte, Electronic Music Foundation
• Open Space CD 16 music for tape