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His Instrument Gave Me Wings: An Evening with Suzanne Ciani and Her Buchla
Suzanne Ciani, a groundbreaking composer and performer who got her start by building Buchla’s instruments in the 1960s and eventually became one of the world's foremost Buchla artists, brings her unique voice and history to this exhibition.
After receiving her master's degree in composition at UC Berkeley, where she collaborated with John Chowning and Max Matthews, Ciani began working with synthesizer designer Don Buchla in the early 1970s. Using a Buchla Analog Modular Synthesizer, she founded her own company, Ciani/Musica, and created iconic sounds for commercials for Coca-Cola, Merrill Lynch, AT&T, and General Electric. In 1981 she became the first woman to score a major full-length Hollywood release with Lily Tomlin's The Incredible Shrinking Woman. She went on to release a series of albums blending electronic and acoustic instruments, earning five Grammy nominations. She was the first woman to receive the Moog Innovation Award in 2017, and her life and work were the subject of the documentary A Life in Waves. Today she performs solo quadraphonic Buchla concerts, bringing her work full circle to its experimental electronic roots.
This event offers a rare chance to see Ciani perform and speak in a small intimate venue.
The event will open at 6:00pm with a screening of A Life in Waves, a 2017 documentary from Window Pictures that gives an overview of Suzanne Ciani's life and career. Due to copyright laws, the movie screening will not be livestreamed.
Following the film, Ciani will present an original quadraphonic performance using her own personal Buchla system followed by a talk about her approach to working with Buchla synthesizers and her thoughts on Don Buchla's legacy.
Tickets to this event are $50. Seating is very limited and there is likely to be a waitlist for tickets. Please contact us if you have purchased tickets and can no longer attend so we can assist you with transferring your tickets to someone on the waitlist.
6:00 PM - A Life in Waves Screening
The event will open with a screening of A Life in Waves, a 2017 documentary from Window Pictures. A Life in Waves explores the life and innovations of composer and electronic music pioneer, Suzanne Ciani. From her earliest days learning the piano, to her multi-million dollar advertising ventures, to her successes in the world of New Age music, to her recent re-connection with her beloved Buchla synthesizer, the film is a journey into Suzanne's mind, offering a feminine glimpse into the often complicated world of electronic music.
7:30 PM - Performance/Talk
Following the screening of A Life In Waves, Ciani will present an original quadraphonic performance using her own personal Buchla system. Immediately after her performance, Ciani will present a talk where explains the philosophy, technique, and aesthetic thinking behind her work with Buchla instruments and discusses her synthesis process in depth. She will reflect on her time and friendship with Don Buchla and offer unique insights on his legacy.
SUZANNE CIANI
Suzanne Ciani is a visionary composer, sound designer, and electronic music pioneer whose work with Don Buchla helped shape the very language of modular synthesis. A five-time Grammy nominee and recipient of the Moog Innovation Award, Ciani began her journey in the late 1960s, studying composition at UC Berkeley and working directly with Buchla to build and master his groundbreaking instruments. Her early performances with the Buchla 200 system redefined electronic music as a tactile, expressive art form, and her commercial sound design, most famously the Coca-Cola “pop and pour”—brought synthesis into mainstream culture. More info can be found at sevwave.com.
Note: we never want financial concerns to prevent someone from attending our events. If the ticket price presents a financial burden for you, please contact us for options.
This event is part of EMEAPP/MMT's special exhibition Instruments That Talk Back: Celebrating the Legacy of Don Buchla. Funding for this exhibition has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. We are deeply grateful for their support.