David Shea

Born in Massachusetts (usa), he studied musicology and composition at the Indianapolis School of Performing Arts (1982­84) and at the Oberlin Conservatory (1984­85). In 1985 he moved to New York where he performs regularly as composer and musician. He plays solo as well as in ensembles, and has composed and collaborated with many artists and bands, doing free improvisation or electronic music.
He collaborated with the John Zorn Ensemble from 1986 to 1996. He has written for Karole Armitage. Since 1990, he has mostly written for various ensembles and abandoned electronic music to take up samplers. He is fascinated by mixing instrumental music by means of samplers.

Selected works: Prisoner for sampler, percussion, guitar, piano, bass guitar, drums, harmonica (1994), Satyricon for sampler, strings, voice, drums, piano, gongs, keyboard, electric harp, synthesizer (1997), Chamber Symphony No. 1 for ensemble (2000).

The second movement of the Chamber Symphony No. 2 is based on the combination of the traditions of acoustic and electroacoustic music. The idea is to re-create the functioning of an ensemble as a human structure according to the method applied in electronic sound synthesis. A group of motifs or loops are written, then played and recorded and then synthesized on the keyboard. All the sources recorded are of acoustic origin and the instruments are used without a sequencer and without computer-manipulation. The conductor plays with the ensemble as someone would play a synthesizer: by conducting a number of musicians playing the motifs at different times, creating a unique blend for every performer. The aim is to absorb electronic music and these references to the methods and energy of techno music and its dj culture within classical acoustic traditions and to preserve the independence of what is special both to acoustic playing and to the new techniques of synthesizer playing, without compromise and without synthetic fusion.