131 Log 231006
David Bernstein Interview

October 6^th, 2023
Littlefield Concert Hall
Mills College/Northeastern Campus

Professor of Music David Bernstein is an acclaimed scholar in Western Music Theory and current musicology. He is the editor of the renowned book on early electronic music: The San Francisco Tape Music Center: 1960s Counterculture and the Avant-Garde. Professor Bernstein has also served as the Head of the Music Department at Mills College.

Interview David Bernstein 231006.pdf
Abstract
David Bernstein rollt die Geschichte des San Francisco Tape Music Center (SFTMC) nach dem Umzug von der Divisadero Street ins Mills College auf. Das neu gegründete Center for Contemporary Music (CCM) am Mills College bezeichnet Bernstein als “ground zero” der experimentellen Musik der Westküste. Kompositionen mit Tonbandmaschinen und elektronischen Gerätschaften stehen im Zentrum einer Musik als “community enterprise,” von improvisatorischen Praktiken und “thinking in multiple temporalities.” Mit der Übernahme des Mills College durch die Northeastern University gehört das der Vergangenheit an.

David Bernstein revisits the history of the San Francisco Tape Music Centre (SFTMC) after its move from Divisadero Street to Mills College. Bernstein describes the newly founded Centre for Contemporary Music (CCM) at Mills College as the ‘ground zero’ of experimental music on the West Coast. Compositions with tape machines and electronic devices are at the centre of music as a ‘community enterprise,’ of improvisational practices and ‘thinking in multiple temporalities.’ With the takeover of Mills College by Northeastern University, this is now a thing of the past.