Women in Music Technology: Traditions of Revolution
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Women in Music Technology: Traditions of Revolution Date: Wednesday, May 27th Time: 5:30 PM Location: INTS 1128 What would it mean to tell the history of electronic music through women? Join us for an exciting evening of cutting-edge music technology demonstrations and presentations from two pioneering figures in music scholarship and performance. Event Highlights Keynote Presentation by Dr. Amy Skjerseth Media/Music scholar and UCR Assistant Professor of Popular Music, Dr. Amy Skjerseth, will kick off the night by demonstrating how crucial 20th-century television demos by women have been to the success of electronic music. From Clara Rockmore’s theremin concerts and Delia Derbyshire’s iconic work on the Doctor Who theme, to Wendy Carlos’s BBC demonstrations and Suzanne Ciani’s synthesizer debut on David Letterman, discover how these women made unfamiliar electronic sounds indispensable to pop culture, sci-fi, and modern genres like EDM. Live Demo & Talk by Mari Kimura Renowned violinist, composer, and tech entrepreneur Mari Kimura will discuss and demonstrate MUGIC® (pronounced "mu-gick"), a revolutionary motion sensor system she developed. Built as a lasting tool for genuine human expression rather than a fleeting novelty, Kimura will highlight the ever-expanding applications of MUGIC® across music, art, and creative therapy. About the Speakers Amy Skjerseth is an Assistant Professor in Popular Music at the University of California, Riverside. Her research explores the intersections of music, media, material culture, and technology. She is the author of Preprogrammed: How Electronic Presets Changed Music and Media (University of California Press, September 2026) and serves as the Principal Investigator for the UC Humanities Research Institute group "Defying Defaults in Technology and Culture." Mari Kimura is a pioneer in interactive computer music and a world-renowned soloist celebrated for extending the technical and expressive capabilities of the violin. Notably, she mastered "subharmonics," a technique allowing performance pitches up to an octave below the violin's lowest string without re-tuning. Her latest entrepreneurial venture brings her prototype motion sensor, MUGIC®, to the commercial market. Come experience the past, present, and future of musical revolution! Open to all members of the UCR community and the public.