Jeffrey O. Snyder Director of Electronic Music; Director of the Princeton Laptop Orchestra
“I’m interested in the intersection of arts and engineering, and new perspectives and possibilities in the creation and experience of music.”
Jeff Snyder (b.1978) is a composer, improviser and instrument-designer living in Princeton, New Jersey, and active in the New York City area.
As founder and lead designer ofSnyderphonics, Jeff designs and builds unusual electronic musical instruments. His creations include the Manta, which is played by over 150 musicians around the world; the JD-1 Keyboard/Sequencer, which was commissioned as a specialty controller for Buchla synthesizers; and the custom analog modular synthesizer on which he regularly performs.
Jeff is a member of experimental electronic duoexclusiveOr, avant jazz groupThe Federico Ughi Quartet, improvisatory noise trioThe Mizries, and laptop ensembleSideband. He fronts the bandOwen Lakeand the Tragic Loves as his electro-country alter-ego, Owen Lake. He also composes alternate-reality Early Music for an ensemble of his invented instruments.
In 2009, Jeff co-founded an experimental music record label,Carrier Records, which continues to release strange and exciting experimental music. In 2011, he received a doctorate with distinction in Music Composition from Columbia University. He is now the Director of Electronic Music at Princeton University, as well asDirector ofPLOrk, Princeton’s Laptop Orchestra.
Education
B.A in Music Composition from University of Wisconsin-Madison
Doctor of Musical Arts (with distinction) in Music Composition from Columbia University
Recognition & Awards
Princeton University, David A Gardner Magic Project Grant, 2016
Princeton University, Barr Ferree Publication Grant, 2016
Vermont Studio Center, David Bermant Foundation Fellowship for Kinetic and Sound Art, 2015
Princeton University, Council for Science and Technology Development Grant, 2015
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Open Studio Artist Residency, 2014
Elektronmusikstudion (EMS Stockholm, Sweden), Guest Resident Composer, 2013
International Contemporary Ensemble, ICELab Composition Collaboration Commission, 2013
Computer Music Magazine, Innovation and Performance Award, 2009
Columbia University, Dissertation Fellowship, 2008-2009
Columbia University, Teaching Fellowship, 2003-2008
Cypress Semiconductor, Innovator Design Award, 2007
Columbia University, Summer Research Fellowship 2004, 2007
Columbia University, Music and Engineering Art Projects Summer Grant, 2006
University of Wisconsin, Hilldale Undergraduate Research Fellowship, 2001
Courses
Fall 2022
MUS 314: Computer and Electronic Music through Programming, Performance, and CompositionSpring 2022
MUS 209A / STC 209A: Transformations in Engineering and the ArtsMUS 209B / STC 209B: Transformations in Engineering and the Arts
MUS 316: Computer and Electronic Music Composition
Fall 2021
MUS 314: Computer and Electronic Music through Programming, Performance, and CompositionSpring 2020
MUS 316: Computer and Electronic Music Composition262 Alexander St.
(609) 258 - 3616
Website