Composer Neil Rolnick pioneered the use of computers in musical performance, beginning in the late 1970s. Based in New York City since 2002, his music has been performed world wide, including recent performances in China and Mexico and across the U.S. His string quartet Oceans Eat Cities was performed at the UN Global Climate Summit in Paris in Dec. 2015. In 2016 and 2017 he received support from CEC ArtsLink, the Bogliasco Foundation, and New Music USA.
Throughout the 1980s and ‘90s he developed the first integrated electronic arts graduate and undergraduate programs in the US, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Though much of his work connects music and technology, and is therefore considered in the realm of “experimental” music, Rolnick’s music has always been highly melodic and accessible, and has been characterized by critics as “sophisticated,” “hummable and engaging,” and as having “good senses of showmanship and humor.”
During his latest residency, Neil worked on commissions from the San Francisco Conservatory's New Music Ensemble and from Juilliard's Beyond the Machine Festival, as well as on his extended multimedia project, MONO. His 16th CD, Extended Family, was released in January 2011. Rolnick's other works include Cello Ex Machina (2015); Silicon Breath (2014), commissioned by the New York State Council on the Arts, and Dynamic RAM & Concert Grand (2014), commissioned by the Fromm Foundation. All three appeared on his CD Ex Machina, released by Innova in October 2016.
