This year, composer Aurie Hsu accepted a tenure-track position in the TIMARA department. Hsu taught as a visiting professor at Oberlin during the 2015 and 2016 academic years. Previously, she taught at the University of San Diego and the Mason Gross School of Arts at Rutgers University. Her hiring is an exciting milestone in the program’s growth, marking the first time in department history in which there have been three tenure-track TIMARA professors (instead of two with one visiting professor).
Hsu, a prolific composer, pianist, and dancer, brings an impressive array of talents and knowledge to the department. Her compositional work has been performed by ensembles including the Da Capo Chamber Players, Relâche, NOW Ensemble, and the Talujon Percussion Quartet, with presentations seen at NIME, ICMC, SEAMUS, MOCO, SIGCHI, Pixelerations, Third Practice Festival, Acoustica 21, the Logos Tetrahedron Concert Hall (Belgium), the Cité International des Arts (France), and the TivoliVredenburg (The Netherlands). Hsu’s compositions span acoustic, electroacoustic, and interactive realms.
This includes the development of the Remote electroAcoustic Kinesthetic Sensing (RAKS) system, a wireless sensor interface for belly dance designed in collaboration with composer Steven Kemper, which was utilized in her ICMA award-winning piece Shadows no. 5 (2010) and Why Should Our Bodies End at the Skin? (2018), an Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology commission.
Beyond her compositional work, Hsu is also an accomplished pianist. She frequently performs her own prepared piano pieces. The San Francisco Classical Voice has praised her playing as “incendiary” and as having “dazzled the audience.” Hsu is also a skilled dancer; a former member of the Fire in the Belly Dance Co. (2005 – 2012), her interest in dance and composition often overlap in engaging studies of physical and musical gesture.
Hsu says “I am elated to join the Division of Contemporary Music faculty at the Oberlin Conservatory. I am excited for the opportunity to work alongside incredible my colleagues in TIMARA, Peter Swendsen, Tom Lopez, and Abby Aresty. I am constantly inspired by all of the students involved in TIMARA. Their creativity, dedication, and imagination is unparalleled. Oberlin was essential in shaping my own musical and creative life from my piano performance training to my interest in experimental and electronic music. It is an immense privilege to have the chance to teach and grow at Oberlin, which is so special to me.” – JA
