LEAF2018: John and John

John Gunther and John Drumheller are longtime collaborators. For LEAF2018 they will be performing composed and improvised works for saxophone and Supercollider. SuperCollider is a platform for audio synthesis and algorithmic composition, used by musicians, artists, and researchers working with sound.

John Gunther is a composer and multi-instrumentalist playing Saxophones, Clarinet, and Flute. With a restless musical spirit, he explores all forms of jazz from traditional to avant-garde as well as classical music, world music and experimental electronic music. He has performed or recorded with Dave Douglas, Ron Miles, Christian McBride, Bobby Watson, Wallace Roney, Larry Goldings,Tom Harrel, Dewey Redman, Joe Williams, The Woody Herman Orchestra, and The Maria Schneider Orchestra.

As part of New York city’s “downtown” music scene for many years, he produced five recordings for Creative Improvised Music Projects (CIMP) and is co-founder of the contemporary jazz ensembles, “Spooky Actions” and “Convergence.” John is an Associate Professor and director of the Thompson Jazz Studies Program at the University of Colorado Boulder. He received a Ph.D. from New York University. In 2007 he founded the Boulder Laptop Orchestra [BLOrk] to explore the intersection of music, performance, art, and technology. His work with BLOrk has led to further collaboration with the STEM program at CU exploring informal science education through the arts.

Bozeman, Montana, native John Drumheller received his DMA in composition from the University of Colorado in 1993. He has undertaken further studies in digital synthesis and algorithmic composition at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University and in synthesis and digital signal processing at the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Drumheller’s music has been performed across the United States, Europe and Asia, including venues such as the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Issues Project Room in New York City.  He has won several awards for his music, including the Kayden Colorado Arts Award, the Quinto Maganini Award and an honorable mention at the ALEA III International Composition Competition for his string quartet Ragged Tree at Olive Ridge, recorded on the CRS label. He is a founding member and co-director of the Boulder Laptop Orchestra and is senior instructor of composition and director of music technology at CU-Boulder.