Bruce Hamilton (b. 1966, Philadelphia) composes and performs music in a variety of genres. He has performed as a percussionist, improviser, and electronic musician for over 30 years. His music is published by Non Sequitur Music and can be heard on the Albany, Amaranth, and/OAR, black circle, Capstone, Aural Films, Ilse, [ink | fuel], Linear Obsessional, Memex, Parma, Phill, SEAMUS, Spectropol, split-notes, Three Legs Duck and Mark labels. He has been participating in the Sound-In community since its inception (as ImprovFriday) in the late aughts.
Hamilton's creative output is eclectic, exploring multiple styles and genre hybrids. He has received honors, awards and commissions from ALEA III, AMC, ASCAP, PAS, Barlow Endowment, Carbondale Community Arts, Indiana University, Jerome Foundation, National Society of Arts and Letters, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Exit 9 Percussion Group, Ensemble Kompulz, Iktus Duo, Drumartica, Whatcom Symphony, Fifth Inversion, Russolo-Pratella Foundation, and SEAMUS. Recent performances of his music have included those at NYCEMF, NWEAMO, ICMC, Friends of Rain, Electronic Music Midwest, JMU Contemporary Music Festival, Third Practice Festival, SEAMUS, Festival Sonica, Arts NOW, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. His collaborations with choreographer/filmmaker Susan Haines have been performed and presented in Brooklyn, Seattle, Eugene, Braga, and Dusseldorf.
His most recent large ensemble work was a double concerto commissioned and premiered by the INVERSE Percussion Project and Musique Militaire Grand-Ducal du Luxembourg. His most recent full-length albums are Lanes (2017, Spectropol); Winding (2016, Spectropol); drams (2012, Linear Obsessional (UK) and Compulse (as Skiks, 2011, split-notes (UK).
He has given masterclasses and lectures in Munich, Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Namur, Dudelange, Portland, Seattle, Olympia, Greensboro, Bloomington, Harrisonburg and Carbondale. A graduate of Indiana University (BM, MM, DM), Hamilton is Professor of Music at Western Washington University, where he teaches music theory, composition, and directs the electroacoustic music studio (WWEAMS). He is a co-organizer of the Sound Culture Adventures Festival, the Bellingham Electronic Arts Festival, and the Microtonal Adventures Festival. He runs the experimental Spectropol netlabel and has served on the boards of Make.Shift, UnTwelve, the Washington Composers Forum, and the Bellingham Alternative Library. Hamilton lives in Bellingham with composer Lesley Sommer and their son Miles. And some cats.
audio available