Zachary Seldess / Music

Graduate Student Researcher
2006 – 2009zseldess@gradcenter.cuny.edu

Zachary Seldess, a Chicago native now living in New York, is currently pursuing a PhD in composition at The Graduate Center CUNY where his primary teachers are Amnon Wolman and Morton Subotnick. In Chicago, Zachary worked as a performer, composer, private teacher and adjunct professor at Wilbur Wright College and Harold Washington College. He has received a B.M. in composition and classical guitar and an M.M. in classical guitar from Northwestern University. There he studied composition with Alan Stout and Michael Pisaro and guitar with Anne Waller.

As a composer, Zachary has collaborated with artists in many mediums including theater, dance, film, and poetry. His work has been published in Antennae, a biannual print journal of experimental poetry and music. Current collaborative projects include Street Fighter – an improvisational ballet, an ongoing collaboration with Yoni Niv (composer) and Andy Graydon (sound/video artist) using Max/MSP to link improvisatory sonic environments to the 2D game engine of the 90’s arcade game classic, Street Fighter. Zachary spends much of his time these days creating interactive media artwork, particularly within the Max/MSP/Jitter programming environment. In addition to his own projects, he also currently works as a Max programmer and teacher. Programming projects include work with Jane Rigler on Manhattan New Music Project‘s “Music Cre8tor” (sensor/software music-creating interface for developmentally challenged children); sound design and programming for New York-based dancer Johari Mayfield; and design of real-time surround sound spatialization software for sound artist Miguel Frasconi.

Zachary’s work at the New Media Lab involves the creation of networked virtual sound installations in 3D game space (Art Games) using the Torque Game Engine and the Max/MSP/Jitter programming environment. He also works at Harvestworks as a resident Programmer/Teacher/Engineer and at Brooklyn College CUNY as adjunct faculty. Zachary is founder and co-director of Intermedia Arts Group.