Skip to the content
PersonDeveloped article

Wendy Carlos

Born and raised in Rhode Island, Carlos studied physics and music at Brown University before moving to New York City in 1962 to study music composition at Columbia University. Studying and working with various electronic musicians and technicians at the city's Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, she helped in the development of the Moog synthesizer, Robert Moog's first commercially available keyboard instrument. Carlos came to prominence with Switched-On Bach (1968), an album of music by Johann Sebastian Bach performed on a Moog synthesizer, which helped popularize its use in the 1970s and won her three Grammy Awards.

Wendy Carlos

Wendy Carlos demonstrating stereo sound for a high school science project.

The 1958 senior class of St. Rafael Academy. · The Rafaelite, yearbook of St. Rafael Academy, Pawtucket, Rhode Island. · Public domain

Name
Wendy Carlos
Born
14 November 1939
Birthplace
Pawtucket, Rhode Island, U.S.
Occupation
* Musician
Nationality
United States
Fields
electronic music
Known for
Switched-On Bach

VALÉORINE Encyclopedia

VALÉORINE documentary reading

Documentary summary

Born and raised in Rhode Island, Carlos studied physics and music at Brown University before moving to New York City in 1962 to study music composition at Columbia University. Studying and working with various electronic musicians and technicians at the city's Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, she helped in the development of the Moog synthesizer, Robert Moog's first commercially available keyboard instrument. Carlos came to prominence with Switched-On Bach (1968), an album of music by Johann Sebastian Bach performed on a Moog synthesizer, which helped popularize its use in the 1970s and won her three Grammy Awards.

Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE

Note VALÉORINE

Wendy Carlos was an American composer, film score composer and music arranger, among other activities.

Works include Switched-On Bach. Genres include electronic music.

Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026

VALÉORINE

Reference Check

Propose documentary evidence for Wendy Carlos. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.

Sign in to contribute

World of VALÉORINE

Documentary connections

Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.

Documentary evidence

Evidence Panel

not yet certified

Identity
resolved
Independent source families
0
Admitted assertions
0
Open conflicts
0

Authority files

museum · 7e3b3173-2c1f-42c0-8544-0e6d19bb181f · wikidata · Q44641 · wikipedia · Wendy Carlos

In this article

  1. 01Biography
  2. 02Visual art and other activities
  3. 03Archives and collections
  4. 04Honours and memberships
  5. 05Notes, references and evidence

The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.

Elsewhere in Music memorabilia

For owners

Own a work by Wendy Carlos?

A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.