Charles Amirkhanian (born 19 January 1945) in Fresno, California, is an American composer. He is a percussionist, sound poet, and radio producer of Armenian extraction. He is mostly known for his electroacoustic and text-sound music. Performance artist Laurie Anderson praises his work: "The art of audio collage has been reinvented here...A brilliant sense of imaginary space." (ST-206)
Amirkhanian was Music Director of Pacifica Radio's KPFA-FM in Berkeley, California from 1969 to 1992; he directs the Other Minds Music Festival in San Francisco. He has played a key role in recording and championing the work of Conlon Nancarrow, among others.
In 1984, the American Music Center awarded him its Letter of Distinction for service to American composers through his work at KFPA FM in Berkeley, CA. This was followed in 2005 by another for his co-founding and directing the Other Minds Festival in San Francisco, California. From ASCAP in 1989 he received the Deems Taylor Award, also for service to American composers. As a composer he was awarded a grant in 1997 from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts in New York City. And in 2009, Chamber Music America and ASCAP honored him for his Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music with Other Minds.
Discography
- Walking Tune (1998). Starkland ST-206. "One of the Year's 20 Best CDs," according to the Electronic Music Foundation.
External links
- Other Minds: Amirkhanian
- American Maverick: An interview with Charles Amirkhanian by Alan Baker, Minnesota Public Radio, June 2002
- CDeMUSIC: Charles Amirkhanian
- Walking Tune CD on Starkland
- compilation CD
Listening
- Art of the States: Charles Amirkhanian three works by Charles Amirkhanian
- UbuWeb: Charles Amirkhanian featuring music from Amirkhanian's LP Mental Radio
- Riding the Meridian: Ka Himeni Hehena Sound/Text by Charles Amirkhanian
- author page at Lyrikline.org, with audio and text.
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