"Birds Suite" - An Electronic Music Program featuring Dr. Bruce McKinney

The Cranford Public Library is very pleased to present “Birds Suite,” a presentation and discussion of electronic music composition by Cranford resident Dr. Bruce McKinney. Vivaldi, Beethoven, Debussy, Ravel, and Respighi all found a place for the imitation of bird calls in their music. In a similar spirit, Dr. McKinney’s “Birds Suite” uses digital recordings of bird calls (courtesy of the McCauley Ornithology Laboratory at Cornell University) and re-composes them into music. Dr. McKinney studied composition with Earl Kim at Princeton and with Jack Beeson at Columbia University. From 1974 to 2005 he was a member of the music faculty at Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York, where, together with Monroe Cooper, he developed Kingsborough’s Music Technology program. In 1987-1988 he apprenticed in electronic music at the Brooklyn College Center for Computer Music, and in 1999-2000 he returned to the Center as composer-in-residence. From 2005 to 2008 he worked with Deborah Thurlow’s electronic performance group Turn on the Music, and in 2011 he gave a symposium on real-time electronic music and performance at the College of New Jersey. Admission to the program is free and all are welcome.