City College of San Francisco Electronic Music: UL_Unlisted

In 1972, City College of San Francisco became the first community college in the United States to offer courses in electronic music. Patrick Cowley, electronic music pioneer, and Herb Bielawa (Professor Emeritus, San Francisco State University), Bay Area composer, are both counted among the early students of electronic music at CCSF. The program has since continued forward, and is currently completing its first year under the direction of Matthew Creer. This evening’s program resonates with influences from early pioneers such as Stockhausen, Subotnik and Varese, and yet looks hopefully to the future.
The students will perform their pieces for fixed media in a continuous, back-to-back mix. Students will diffuse their music live, using a multichannel system whose software element has been programmed in the electronic music studio housed at CCSF’s Ocean Campus.
The title of the program, UL_Unlisted refers to the delight that these students, and their teacher take in voiding the warranties of electronic devices that they have hunted down during class outings in San Francisco. These radios, children’s toys, and discarded ambient sound appliances have been modified and hacked into a new life as musical instruments. Every approved for use electronic device in the U.S. has a label that reads “UL Listed”. This label no longer applies to these hacked devices; they are now officially “UL_Unlisted”.