Nick Brooke (born December 26, 1968) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, musician, arranger,

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...

ist, instrument builder, and researcher of early musical automata. He was born in

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...

. Brooke mixes musical sampling,

lipsynching Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements ...

, and theater into an idiosyncratic genre. In many of his works, vocalists and actors are trained to mimic sampled collages of sound effects, pop songs, and musical ephemera, blurring the line between recording and live performance. Brooke’s instrumental works have been performed by the

Paul Dresher Paul Joseph Dresher (born January 8, 1951, in Los Angeles) is an American composer. Paul Dresher was born and raised in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. From an early age, he was surrounded by music, deeply influenced by the sounds of Elvis Presl ...

Ensemble, the Nash Ensemble of London,

Orchestra 2001 Orchestra 2001 was founded at Swarthmore College, where it was Ensemble-in-Residence for over twenty-five years. In addition to concerts in the Philadelphia area, the ensemble has brought new American music to countless new audiences through nation ...

, Dan Druckman,

Speculum Musicae Speculum Musicae is an American chamber ensemble dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. It was founded in New York City in 1971 and is particularly noted for its performances of the music of Elliott Carter and Charles Wuo ...

, and New York’s

Gamelan Son of Lion Gamelan Son of Lion (GSOL) is an American gamelan ensemble based in New York City. The group was founded in 1976 by Barbara Benary (who constructed most of the instruments), Philip Corner, and Daniel Goode. It is a composers' collective as well ...

. During a two-year fellowship in

Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...

, Brooke studied

gamelan Gamelan (; ; , ; ) is the traditional musical ensemble, ensemble music of the Javanese people, Javanese, Sundanese people, Sundanese, and Balinese people, Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussion instrument, per ...

and collaborated on musical projects with Javanese composers, dancers, and visual artists. His work ''Tone Test'' received its premiere at the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

Festival in 2004. Previews on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

and in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' documented its innovative aesthetic. His 2013 album,
Border Towns
' (

Innova Recordings Innova Recordings is the independent record label of the non-profit American Composers Forum based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1982 to document the winners of the McKnight Fellowship offered by its parent organization, the Minne ...

), was inspired by Mexican "

border blasters A border blaster is a broadcast station that, though not licensed as an external service, is, in practice, used to target another country. The term "border blaster" is of North American origin, and usually associated with Mexican AM station ...

," high-powered radio stations that encroached on U.S. broadcast airspace during the 1950s. Brooke holds degrees in music composition and philosophy from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

, and a Ph.D. from

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

. He teaches at

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont, United States. Founded as a women’s college in 1932,

External links

Official web site
* Nick Brooke's ''Tone Test'' a

* Nick Brooke profile a
Continuum Contemporary Music

"Nick Brooke: The Artful Appropriator"
at New Music Box, October 15, 2004

theatrical production, ''New York Times'', September 15, 2010

''New York Times'', September 8, 2002 {{DEFAULTSORT:Brooke, Nick American male composers 21st-century American composers People from Manchester, New Hampshire Living people 1968 births Bennington College faculty Oberlin College alumni 21st-century American male musicians