ARTIST BIOS
Taavi Kerikmäe and Scott L. Miller. Photo by Michael Duffy.
Taavi Kerikmäe (b. 1976, Tartu, Estonia) is a performing artist, composer, and teacher of experimental music and improvisation at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, recognized in 2015 with an Estonian Cultural Endowment Award for being a "multitalented recitalist and innovative interpreter" and awarded the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Letters by the French Republic in 2016. A graduate of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (classical piano) and the Conservatoire National Supérieure de Lyon (contemporary music), Kerikmäe specializes in the fields of free improvisation, electro-acoustic music, and contemporary music. He is a founding member of the contemporary music group, Ensemble U:, and has performed throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America, and on numerous contemporary music festivals (Venice Biennale, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Nuovo Consonanza) working with such composers as Ivan Fedele, Pierre Boulez, Tristan Murail, Vinko Globokar, F.-B. Mâche, Alessandro Solbiatti, Helena Tulve and many others.
Kerikmäe performs with piano, theremin, various synths and keyboards, live electronics, and custom made electronic instruments. He frequently collaborates with improvising artists, including Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Michel Doneda, Jacques DiDonato, Le Quan Ninh, Mart Soo, Isabelle Duthoit, Eric Echampard, Jean-Marc Montera, and the European Improvisers Orchestra. As a composer, he has written music for several modern dance performances, such as Hamlet and The Small Prince for the Estonian National Ballet. He received the Electronic Artist of the Year 2008 from the Estonian Association of Phonogram Producers for his work on the CD “Death Has a Meaning for Us,” recorded with the Broken Time Orchestra.
Scott L. Miller (b. 1966) is an American composer described as ‘a true force on the avant-ambient scene’ of ‘high adventure avant garde music of the best sort’ (Classical-Modern Music Review). Best known for his electroacoustic chamber music and ecosystemic performance pieces, his music is characterized by collaborative approaches to composition and the use of electronics, exploring performer/computer improvisation and re-imagining ancient compositional processes through the lens of 21st century technology. Inspired by the inner-workings of sound and the microscopic in the natural and mechanical worlds, his music is the product of hands-on experimentation and collaboration with musicians and performers from across the spectrum of styles. His recent work experiments with VR applications in live concerts, first realized in his composition Raba, created for Tallinn-based Ensemble U:.
Three time McKnight Composer Fellow, his work is frequently performed by soloists, ensembles, and at festivals throughout North America and Europe. Recordings of his music are available on New Focus Recordings, Innova, and other labels, many featuring his long-time collaborators, the new music ensemble Zeitgeist (and whose albums he produces). His music is published by the American Composers Alliance, Tetractys, and Jeanné. Raba (NFR198) is his most recent album, a collection of audio-visual music drawn from collaborations with six film and video artists. Miller is a Professor of Music at St. Cloud State University, Minnesota, where he teaches composition, electroacoustic music and theory. He is Past-President (2014—18) of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the U.S. (SEAMUS) and presently Director of SEAMUS Records.