The human voice in its singing and speaking inspires much of Anna Rubin’s work. Whether her works are composed for ancient instruments or developed with sophisticated digital software, she tells stories, she protests injustice, and she celebrates the human spirit in dynamic works for solo virtuosi, choral and chamber ensembles, orchestra and fixed media. Her works have been heard throughout North America, Europe and Asia from 1978 to the present. Beginning with acoustic composition in traditional forms, she has focused more recently on the integration of amplified instruments with live electronics as well as ‘electric stories’ – richly layered narrations embedded in digital sound. The special sounds of Baroque instruments have also inspired her to write many works. The range of her works extends from solo and chamber compositions to works for orchestra and wind ensemble.
She has received awards, grants, and fellowships from such organizations as ASCAP, New York Foundation for the Arts, the Maryland, New York and Ohio Arts Councils, National Orchestral Association, Meet the Composer and the Gaudeamus Foundation. Commissions include those from the EAR Unit, New American Radio, Radio Station WNYC, Abbie Conant, F. Gerard Errante, Thomas Buckner, and the New England Foundation for the Arts. She is a fellow of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
Her work has been performed by such ensembles as the Da Capo Chamber Players, Los Angeles EAR Unit, the Nash Ensemble, Contemporary Music Forum, and Ruckus. Performances in recent years have occurred in Beijing, Hong Kong, Berlin, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Baltimore, Miami and on nearly a score of university campuses in the United States, Germany and France. Such organizations as the International Computer Music Association, the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music U.S. and International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM) have featured her compositions as well.
Her work is recorded on the Capstone, Neuma, Sony and SEAMUS labels and she is published by I Resound Press and AR New Music Publishers.
She has had a long association with a number of contemporary music organizations including the American Music Center, Independent Composers Association of LA (co-founder), Perspectives in New Music (editorial board), and the IAWM (board member, president, and currently Development Chair). Her doctorate was earned at Princeton University.
She teaches composition, introduction to electronic music, theory and music history courses.
Contact
Associate Professor
Office: 410-455-3190
Room: PAHB 260
airubin@umbc.edu
Teaching
Electronic/Computer Music
Music Theory
Composition
Research Interests
Composition
Education
B.A. Pomona College (1968)
B.F.A. California Institute of the Arts (1973)
M.F.A. California Institute of the Arts (1981)
Ph.D. Princeton University (2000)