David Behrman

Behrman wrote the music for Merce Cunningham's dances Walkaround Time (1968), Rebus (1975), Pictures (1984) and Eyespace 40 (2007). In 1978, he released his debut album On the Other Ocean, a pioneering work combining computer music with live performance. • Illustration — Behrman in 2012

David Behrman studied at Harvard University, Columbia University and Phillips Academy. Employment is recorded with Bard College, Technische Universität Berlin and California Institute of the Arts. Work by David Behrman is recorded in the collections of Smithsonian American Art Museum. Distinctions recorded are Berlin Prize.

• Name — David Behrman • Born — 16 August 1937 • Birthplace — Salzburg, Austria • Education — * Phillips Academy • Harvard University (B.A.) • Columbia University (M.A.) • Occupation — * Composer • producer • professor • Years Active — 1962–present • Employer — * Bard College, • California Institute of the Arts, • Mills College, • Ohio State University, • Rutgers University, • Technische Universität Berlin • Known for — Sonic Arts Union • Notable Works — On the Other Ocean • Father — S. N. Behrman • Relatives — Jascha Heifetz (uncle)

Behrman's father, S. N. Behrman, was a successful playwright and Hollywood screenplay writer. His mother Elza Heifetz Behrman was the sister of violinist Jascha Heifetz. Behrman attended the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where his classmates included Carl Andre, Hollis Frampton and Frank Stella. There he also developed a lifelong friendship with composer and pianist Frederic Rzewski. While attending summer camp at Indian Hill in 1953 he was taught modern music by Wallingford Riegger. He received a BA from Harvard in 1959. At Harvard, he formed a lifelong friendship with Christian Wolff and where he continued his friendship with Frederic Rzewski. He attended the summer school at Darmstadt in 1959, where he met La Monte Young and Nam June Paik. He received a Master of Arts from Columbia University in 1963.

Behrman began working as a tape editor for CBS's Columbia Records, and by 1967 he had been entrusted with curating and producing an album series entitled Music of Our Time highlighting contemporary American experimental music. The first release featured recordings by Steve Reich ("Come Out"), Pauline Oliveros, and Richard Maxfield. He later recorded Terry Riley's famous pieces In C (1968) and A Rainbow in Curved Air (1969), which would have the greatest impact of the albums released in the CBS series. Behrman is known as a minimalist composer. His music has often involved interactions between live performers and computers, usually with the computer generating sounds triggered by some aspect of the live performance, usually certain pitches, but sometimes other aspects of the live sound, such as volume in QRSL (as recorded by Maggi Payne on The Extended Flute (CRI807). Many of his significant works, such as On the Other Ocean, Interspecies Small Talk, are based on a pitch sensing computer music system.

Behrman was briefly married to Japanese video artist, sculptor and avant-garde performance artist Shigeko Kubota. The marriage ended in 1969. He has been married since 1979 to media-artist Terri Hanlon. Behrman lives in New York City.

The following is established of the heading itself.

The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count. The register further records that david Behrman is recorded with the occupation composer. Institutional cataloguing adds that david Behrman is recorded as a citizen of United States. The same evidence establishes that david Behrman is recorded with the gender male. Born on 16 August 1937.