ABOUT TODD
MY STORYAfter five decades of exploration Todd Barton is still delving deeply into the ever-expanding frontiers of musical expression. He is a sonic adventurer, composer, educator and performer of abstract, freely improvised electronic music specializing in Buchla, Serge and Hordijk instruments. He widely shares his explorations, demos and tutorials via Youtube and Instagram as well as offering private online sessions for friends, clients and students around the world.
Barton’s compositions have been performed by the KRONOS Quartet, Oregon Symphony Orchestra, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, Southern Oregon Repertory Singers, the Shasta Taiko, and the Rogue Valley Symphony to name a few.
Barton has received numerous awards for his theater music including the ASCAP Award for Popular Music, Dramalogue Critics Award, and the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award. He recently received a Jeff Award Nomination in Chicago for his original score to The Oedipus Complex.
His music has been heard on NPR’s Morning Edition, Westcoast Live, and the Curve of Wonder.
From his DNA derived Genome Music to his innovative scores for plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival; from performances of Zen Shakuhachi Meditation Music to avant-garde music for electronic synthesizers and computers; from performing with luminaries of jazz and poetry to lecturing on music and composition from the Middle Ages to the 21st Century.
Todd Barton is currently a trainer for MacProVideo Buchla courses. And continually consults about and teaches analog synthesis via Skype sessions around the world.
He is also Resident Composer Emeritus for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Besides the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Todd has created scores for the Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Folger Theatre and Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Berekeley Rep, ACT and Intiman in Seattle, ACT in San Francisco, the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.
Over the years Todd has collaborated with a variety of jazz musicians and poets including Anthony Braxton, Zakir Hussein, William Stafford, Ursula K. Le Guin and Lawson Fusao Inada.
He has done multimedia and dance works with Suzee Grilley, Miles Inada, and Ursula Le Guin.
As a lecturer on topics ranging from the Symbolism of Musical Notation of the Middle Ages, Renaissance Philosophy and Music, to Music for the Theatre, Music and the Human Genome and Visual Music, Todd has been guest lecturer at the Smithsonian Institute, CalArts, Future Music Oregon, University of the Pacific, Cornish College of the Art, Seattle University, et al.
Work with Todd
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Todd travels the world performing and lecturing on topics ranging from the Symbolism of Muiscal Notation of the Middle Ages, Renaissance Philosophy and Muisc, to Music for the Theatre, Music and the Human Genome and Visual Music, Todd has been guest lecturer at the Smithsonian Institute, CalArts, Future Music Oregon, University of the Pacific, Cornish College of the Art, Seattle University, et al. Contact Todd
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His compositions have been performed by the KRONOS Quartet, Oregon Symphony Orchestra, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, Southern Oregon Repertory Singers, the Shasta Taiko, and the Rogue Valley Symphony to name a few.
He is also Resident Composer Emeritus for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Learn more
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Todd has a dense library of self published and released albums, tracks, and collaborations. Listen in
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Experimentation and play are core facets of Todd’s artistic practice. Follow along as he explores the depths and expansiveness of sound, space, and psyche. Tune in
Biography Extentions
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Genome Music Demo
Todd’s Genome Music has been heard and exhibited at the Smithsonian Insitute, the Carnegie Insitiute of Biological Research at Stanford University, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Graduate Art Gallery at CUNY (NY) as well as mentioned in articles for the Washington Post, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, The Economist and Wired.
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Shakespeare Compilation
Todd was Resident Composer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival from 1969-2012. He has composed music for the entire canon of Shakespeare’s plays twice as well as music for over a hundred classical and contemporary theatrical productions.
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Homage
Todd continues to study zen shakuhachi meditation music which he began in 1989. He has recorded four albums: Tai Chi Shakuhachi, Mountain Ghost Breathing, Shakuhachi Ma, and Ro. His teachers include John Singer, John Kaizan Neptune, Matsumura Homei, Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin and Philiip Gelb. Some of Todd’s shakuhachi music can be heard here.
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BEMI Music Easel Jig: Exploration No. 1
Since 1979 Todd has been exploring analog and computer-based music. He currently is a Consulting Artist for Buchla Electronic Musical Instruments. In the Fall of 2013 Todd will begin doing concerts and workshops on the new Buchla Music Easel.
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Barton on Modular-Station
Is an Internet radio & web portal dedicated to electronic music made with modular synthesis, test equipment & experimental instruments. Its mission is to air and promote those genres among our community and to offer an alley to discover/explore modular artists and music from all over the world.
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Tank Masters Series
On June 19, 2021, Todd Barton headlined the Solstice Festival at the TANK Center for Sonic Arts, in Rangely, Colorado. Known as one of the pioneers of the synthesizer on the West Coast, Todd also played recorder and shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) for his performance in The TANK.
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Modulisme 006
Barton was interviewed by Modulisme. Check out the article for a candid yet intimate exchange that covers his introduction to the Modular Synthesis to his current influences.
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Always Coming Home
“Always Coming Home, was published in 1985 with an accompanying cassette tape on which we can hear the music, poetry and soundscapes of the Kesh. Le Guin asked her friend and composer Todd Barton to help turn her musical intuitions into compositions…”
Todd also creates visual art as a part of his creative practice.
Compositions for your Eyes
Stay Plugged In
