Composer, electronics performer, and sound artist Sam Pluta will join the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory as associate professor of computer music, beginning in the fall 2021 semester.
Though his work has a wide breadth, Pluta’s central focus is on using the computer as a performance instrument capable of sharing the stage with groups ranging from new music ensembles to world-class improvisers.
Pluta is the technical director for the Wet Ink Ensemble, a group for whom he is a member composer as well as principal electronics performer. As a composer of instrumental music, he has written works for Wet Ink, the New York Philharmonic, International Contemporary Ensemble, Yarn/Wire, Spektral Quartet, and other groups. His compositions range from solo instrumental works to pieces for ensemble with electronics to compositions for large ensemble. As a performer of chamber music, in addition to his own works, Pluta has performed and premiered works by Peter Ablinger, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Charmaine Lee, Katharina Rosenberger, George Lewis, Alvin Lucier, Chiyoko Szlavnics, Kate Soper, Eric Wubbels and others.
Pluta studied composition and electronic music at Columbia University, where he received his DMA in 2012. He received Master’s degrees from the University of Birmingham in the UK and the University of Texas at Austin, and completed his undergraduate work at Santa Clara University. His principal teachers include Brad Garton, George Lewis, Tristan Murail, Fabien Levy, Scott Wilson, Jonty Harrison, Russell Pinkston, Kevin Puts, and Lynn Shurtleff. He has taught composition and computer music at the University of Chicago, Bennington College, Manhattan School of Music, and The Walden School.
