Pril Smiley (born 19 March 1943) is an American composer and pioneer of

electronic music Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromech ...

Biography

Pril Smiley was born in Mohonk Lake,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. She worked at the

Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center The Computer Music Center (CMC) at Columbia University is the oldest center for electronic music, electronic and computer music research in the United States. It was founded in the 1950s as the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Locatio ...

in the 1960s and 1970s with

Milton Babbitt Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer, music theorist, mathematician, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and electronic music. Biography Babbitt was born in Philadelphia to Albert E ...

Otto Luening Otto Clarence Luening (June 15, 1900 – September 2, 1996) was a German-American composer and conductor, and an early pioneer of tape music and electronic music. Luening was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to German parents, Eugene, a conducto ...

Vladimir Ussachevsky Vladimir Alexeevich Ussachevsky (November 3, 1911 in Hailar, China – January 2, 1990 in New York, New York) was a composer, particularly known for his work in electronic music. Biography Vladimir Ussachevsky was born in the Hailar District ...

Mario Davidovsky Mario Davidovsky (March 4, 1934 – August 23, 2019) was an Argentine-American composer. Born in Argentina, he emigrated in 1960 to the United States, where he lived for the remainder of his life. He is best known for his series of compositions ca ...

and

Alice Shields Alice Shields (born Alice Ferree Shields, Manhattan, New York, February 18, 1943) is an American classical composer. She is one of the pioneers of electronic music, and is particularly known for her cross-cultural operas. Her work is influenc ...

. She became one of four primary instructors in electronic music at the center and also served as director. From 1968 to 1974 she worked as a consultant to 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 millio ...

Repertory Theater in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

in 1975. She ended her career as a composer in the mid-1980s, but continued to teach, and retired from Columbia in 1995. Her works have been performed internationally.

Works

Smiley composed over forty works for film, theater and dance. Selected works include: *''Eclipse'' (1967) *''Kolyosa'' (1970) *''Forty-Three'' (1984)

Discography

*''Pioneers of Electronic Music'' (2006) by New World Records *''Columbia - Princeton Electronic Music Center: Original Four-Channel Versions of Electronic Compositions By Bulent Arel, Milton Babbit, Mario Davidovsky, Alice Shields, Pril Smiley, Vladimir Ussachevsky'' (Quadraphonic vinyl LP) (1959) by Finnadar Records *''Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center Tenth Anniversary Album - Vinyl by Milton Babbitt, Edgard Varese, Otto Luening, Pril Smiley, et al.'' by CRI *''Electronic Music Pioneers'' (1994) - Audio CD by Bulent Arel, Mario Davidovsky, Otto Luening, Alice Shields, et al. by CRI / Composers Recordings *''Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center 10th Anniversary'' (2010) - Audio CD - Original recording reissued by Edgard Varèse, Milton Babbitt, Vladimir Ussachevsky, Otto Luening, Pril Smiley, et al.

Filmography

*1994 ''Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey'' (documentary) thereminist *1976 '' The Premonition'', composer: electronic music *1968 ''Two Girls for a Madman'', music effectsIMDB listing
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smiley, Pril 1943 births 20th-century classical composers American electronic musicians American women classical composers American classical composers American music educators Living people American women in electronic music 20th-century American women musicians 20th-century American composers Women music educators 20th-century women composers 21st-century American women