Pril Smiley
Encyclopedia
Pril Smiley is an American
composer and pioneer of electronic music
.
, New York
. She worked at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in the 1960s and 1970s with Milton Babbitt
, Otto Luening
, Vladimir Ussachevsky
, Mario Davidovsky
and Alice Shields
. She became one of four primary instructors in electronic music at the center and also served as director. From 1968-74 she worked as a consultant to the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater in New York City
and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
in 1975. She ended her career as a composer in the mid-1980s, but continued to teach, and retired from Columbia in 1995. Her works have been performed internationally.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer and pioneer of electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
.
Biography
Pril Smiley was born in Mohonk LakeMohonk Lake
Lake Mohonk is a lake at the northern end of New Paltz, Ulster County, New York, U.S.A., about 14 m. N.W. of Poughkeepsie. The lake is a small body of water, picturesquely situated 1,245 ft. above sea level in the towns of Rochester and Marbletown, on Sky Top Mountain , one of the highest...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. She worked at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in the 1960s and 1970s with Milton Babbitt
Milton Babbitt
Milton Byron Babbitt was an American composer, music theorist, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and electronic music.-Biography:...
, Otto Luening
Otto Luening
Otto Clarence Luening was a German-American composer and conductor, and an early pioneer of tape music and electronic music....
, Vladimir Ussachevsky
Vladimir Ussachevsky
Vladimir Kirilovitch Ussachevsky was a composer, particularly known for his work in electronic music.-Biography:...
, Mario Davidovsky
Mario Davidovsky
Mario Davidovsky is an Argentine-American composer. Born in Argentina, he emigrated in 1960 to the US, where he lives today...
and Alice Shields
Alice Shields
Alice Shields is an American composer. She is a respected electronic composer particularly known for her work in opera....
. She became one of four primary instructors in electronic music at the center and also served as director. From 1968-74 she worked as a consultant to the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in 1975. She ended her career as a composer in the mid-1980s, but continued to teach, and retired from Columbia in 1995. Her works have been performed internationally.
Works
Smiley composed over forty works for film, theater and dance. Selected works include:- Eclipse (1967)
- Kolyosa (1970)
- Forty-Three (1984)
Discography
- Pioneers of Electronic Music (2006) by New World Records
- Columbia - Princeton Electronic Music Center: Original Four-Channel Versions of Electronic Compositions By Bulent Arel, Milton Babbit, Mario Davidovsky, Alice Shields, Pril Smiley, Vladimir Ussachevsky (Quadraphonic vinyl LP) (1959) by Finnadar Records
- Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center Tenth Anniversary Album - Vinyl by Milton Babbitt, Edgard Varese, Otto Luening, Pril Smiley, et al. by CRI
- Electronic Music Pioneers (1994) - Audio CD by Bulent Arel, Mario Davidovsky, Otto Luening, Alice Shields, et al. by CRI / Composers Recordings
- Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center 10th Anniversary (2010) - Audio CD - Original recording reissued by Edgard Varèse, Milton Babbitt, Vladimir Ussachevsky, Otto Luening, Pril Smiley, et al.
Filmography
- 1994 Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey (documentary) thereminist
- 1976 The Premonition, composer: electronic music
- 1968 Two Girls for a Madman, music effects