Draft:Martha Mooke

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Martha Mooke is an American electro-acoustic violist, working regularly as a performer, composer, and educator. She is known for her artistry, music advocacy, and educational programs, enhancing her traditional viola training with extended techniques, improvisation, and technology...

Biography

Born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx and Staten Island, Mooke was educated in the New York City Public School system. She credits the excellent music programs at PS 4 and IS 34 as being formative to her musical development and career as a composer, performer, and educator. Mooke began playing viola in elementary school, choosing the instrument because "most everybody wanted to play the violin." During her senior year at Tottenville High School, she discovered the music of Jean-Luc Ponty, Laurie Anderson, and the Kronos Quartet; exposure to these pioneering modern string players was inspirational to Mooke, who was determined to incorporate their innovative techniques and sounds in her own playing. She continued her undergraduate education at SUNY-Albany, graduate study at University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Mooke has been a Yamaha Artist (their first electric string artist) for over two decades and served as the first ever Artist-In-Residence for Eventide. She previously held the position of Governor of the New York Chapter of the Recording Academy and is currently a member of both the Executive Committee of the Composer Diversity Project, and the Advisory Board of Composers Now. Mooke is the founder and director of the Multi-Style Strings program at New Jersey City University, where she is Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Strings.

Composer/Performer

Mooke has appeared on television multiple times, including features on The Tonight Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, Regis Live, The View, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and The Rosie O’Donnell Show.

Education/Advocacy

Mooke regularly presents clinics and workshops at national and regional conferences including PopTech, Midwest Clinic, ASTA (American String Teachers Association), NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants), JEN (Jazz Education Network), NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) and IAJE (International Association for Jazz Education).

Mooke’s clinics encourage young string players to reconsider traditional genre boundaries and access their own unique musical voice, focusing on improvisation and technology. Her approach to performance and musicianship is designed to help participants working to overcome learned barriers and break through their own artistic inhibitions

Mooke is the founder of multiple educational programs, including:

Thru The Walls

Launched in January 2001, this club concert series was a showcase celebration of the juxtaposition of musical worlds. Produced with ASCAP, the project featured new music from composer-performers in a variety of musical genres. Rather than holding performances in a traditional concert hall, the series took place at Manhattan rock and jazz club The Cutting Room (link), a venue one would not typically associate with classical music. In addition to the unusual locale, having the official sponsorship and endorsement of ASCAP gave the event a level of status that drew in many distinguished names to the audiences, including David Bowie, with whom Mooke would go on to form a working relationship and friendship

Multi-Style Strings Symposium/Program

In 2017, Mooke began her tenure at New Jersey City University as an adjunct professor in the Music, Dance and Theatre Department (MDT), teaching a Contemporary Music class. In 2019, she was appointed Coordinator of Strings.

Drawing on her own experience in a variety of musical genres, Mooke knew that a successful modern career required not only talent but the ability to market oneself, cultivate relationships, and create opportunities. She learned that many string teachers were eager to incorporate new music and techniques into their classrooms but often lacked confidence, exposure to a variety of styles, or just didn't quite know where to start. Mooke, determined to create a program she wished she had access to in her youth that would have helped prepare her for the kind of eclectic performing life she'd ended up carving out for herself, one that emphasized creative exploration, non-traditional performance techniques, and a melding of multiple musical styles, as well as entrepreneurship for performing musicians.

Mooke’s research also led her to create a “Multi-Style Strings Symposium,” a professional development event for string educators, intended as a resource and teaching tool for embracing all styles of music, improvisation, and available technology in the classroom. The idea developed further into an official degree program (M.M. and B.A.) at New Jersey City University, where Mooke now serves the Multi-Style Strings program director in addition to her duties as Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Strings.

Scorchio Quartet

At the request of David Bowie, Mooke assembled a string quartet, consisting of Gregor Kitzis (violin), Meg Okura (violin), Mary Wooten (cello) and herself (viola), to perform with Bowie at the Carnegie Hall as part of the 2001 Tibet House Benefit Concert, produced by Philip Glass. The event has remained a staple in Scorchio’s performance calendar; in 2003, following performances with David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Rufus Wainwright, the group became the de facto “house band” (along with the Patti Smith Band) for the annual charity concert. Bowie invited the quartet to record with him on his upcoming album Heathen (released in 2002). Collaborations with a variety of other popular artists followed; the quartet has also recorded and performed with Trey Anastasio, Ziggy Marley, Angelique Kidjo, Linda Thompson, Dean and Britta, Charlie Winston, and Blur/Damon Albarn

Awards

Mooke has received awards from Arts International, ASCAP, Meet the Composer, and Fellowships at the MacDowell Colony. Mooke received the ASCAP Concert Music Award for creating and producing ASCAP's new music showcase THRU THE WALLS featuring composer/performers that defy genre boundaries. She is a recipient of the 2013 ASTA Kudos Award for "helping extend the boundaries in string music and education."

Discography

Solo

Electroacoustic Viola from Sonic Collective, Splice Sounds, 2021

No Ordinary Window, Martha Mooke, 2015

Enharmonic Vision, Martha Mooke, 1997

With Bowing

Café Mars, Bowing, 2003

With other artists

​​ Buzz: Music in Harmony with Nature, Superfam Membracoidea Collective (David Rothenberg) 2020

Cheek To Cheek, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, 2014

Back to Brooklyn, Barbra Streisand, 2012

Live From Princeton, Trey Anastasio and the Scorchio Quintet, 2010

iSelect, David Bowie, 2008

Live in Concert, Streisand, 2006

Heathen, David Bowie, 2003

Evolution, Svjetlana Bukvich

Beginning of the Heartbreak, Peter Gordon + Love of Life Orchestra

Love is Love is Love, Julie Gold

Eat/Kiss; I Shot Andy Warhol; Basquiat, Walking on Locusts, John Cale

Clouds Over Eden, Richard Barone

Koyaanisqatsi; Kundun; Taking Lives, Philip Glass

Ziggy Marley - Dragonfly

Works: 1965-1995, Steve Reich

Starwatch, Al Reingold

Versatile Heart, Linda Thompson

All is Dream, Mercury Rev

Somehow We Can, Alvin Singleton

The Gunman and Other Stories, Prefab Sprout

L'Avventura, Britta Phillips/Dean Wareham (of Luna)

Fortune Cookies, Alana Davis

Sufi Kirtan, Hu Dost

Don Cartagena, Fat Joe

Endangered Species, Big Pun

Vitamin C, Vitamin C

Whereabouts, Ron Sexsmith

Transcience, Joel Feigin

Actual Size, Muzzle

Mind Control, Yonchae

Headtrip in Every Key, Superdrag

The Great Works for Voice, Luciano Berio

Electronic Music Foundation - State of the Union 2.001

Anthony Braxton's Tricentric Orchestra - Trillium R: Shala Fears For The Poor (opera)

Lauryn Hill

Ryuichi Sakamoto

The Orchestra (former members of ELO)

Klezmer Concertos & Encores Milken Archive of American Jewish Music

Alternative Styles in the Classroom

Alternative Strings: The New Curriculum

Compositions

Solo works

Heroes Phantasy (5:00), 2021 for electric viola

Platycotis IX (4:33), 2020

Metachrosis (10:26), 2020

The Soul of the Gold Knight (7:00), 2018 for piano and looper

BLING ON! (7:00), 2016

Dreaming in Sound (50:00), 2016

Two Windows (5:35), 2015

Prajnaparamita: The Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom (25:00), 2014

No Ordinary Window (15:00), 2014

REM: A Dream in Sound (15:00), 2014

Pegasus Takes Flight (5:00), 2013

Sympathetic Vibrations (4:00), 2011 for electric viola

ICE 4 (12:00), 2009 for electric viola

Omotion (3:00), 2009 for electric viola

Future Prayer (10:00), 2008 for electric viola

Stories Retold (37:00), 2004 for electric viola

as the Phoenix (8:30), 2001 for solo octave violin

S.O.T.U. (1:00), 2001 for electric viola

Virtual Corridors (8:00), 1999 for electric viola

Enharmonic Vision, rev. (5:56), 1997 for electric viola

Terminal Baggage (7:00), 1996 for electric viola

Raindance (5:00), 1993 for electric viola

Enharmonic Vision (1:00:00), 1993 for electric viola and harmonizer

News (3:00), 1993 for electric viola

Drifting (6:00), 1993 for electric viola

Awaken (3:15), 1993 for electric viola

Bones (5:15), 1993 for electric viola

Fanfare, 1992 for electric viola

Ensemble

Burning Down Brandenburg #3 (4:00), for string orchestra and continuo (2021)

Ode to Ganymede (4:30), for voices, piano, drums, strings (2020)

Cafe Mars (6:00), for string orchestra (2019)

Invisible Hands (15:00), for electric viola and chamber orchestra (2018)

Beats Per Revolution, for electric viola, beatboxer and chamber ensemble (2017)

Kayomatique (6:30), for concert band and improvising soloist (2017)

Lucid dreaming (5:00), for electric violin or viola (2016)

Meditations on Gate, Gate (11:25) (2015)

Skandhas (14:00), for symphonic wind ensemble (2015)

Virtual Corridors II (8:00), for electric viola and string orchestra (2015)

Dreams in Sound (15:00), for electro-acoustic string quartet (2014)

(S)HORT (M)ESSAGE (S)ERVICE (H)IDDEN (S)IGNS (5:20), for orchestra (2013)

Ode to Ganymede (5:30), for chorus and mixed ensemble (2013)

Plumeria, Bauhinia & Tabebuia (13:00), for electric viola and laptop ensemble (2013)

X-ING (15:00), for electric viola and concert band (2012)

Dragons and Aquarians (45:00), for electric viola and voice (2012)

Quantum for Quintet (8:00), for string quintet (2011)

Booker T's Pachelbel (6:00), for beginning string orchestra (2011)

Three Phases (10:00), for string quartet (2010)

e-chi (24:00), for electric viola & percussion quartet (2010)

Strings, Sticks and Skins (9:00), for electric viola & percussion quartet (2010)

ThingThing (3:00), for soprano, Bb clarinet, tenor saxophone, percussion, violin, cello (2009)

Elusive Illusions (9:30), for electric violin & electric viola (2009)

Bartokosmos (6:00), for klezmer violin, electric viola, electric guitar, drums (2007)

B+C=D (50:00), for electronic keyboard, electric guitar, electric viola (2005)

Tanzmetric Modulation (8:00), for klezmer clarinet, klezmer violin, electric viola, tango bass (2005)

VIOLA X-TREME, for electronic drumkit, 2 electric violin, 2 electric viola (2004)

Circa 5 (15:00), for string quartet with piano (2004)

Avatar (10:00), for string orchestra (2003)

Quantum for Quartet (14:00), for electric string quartet (2003)

Lost Galaxy (10:00), for electric viola, electric guitar (2002)

Lost Galaxy Live (40:00), for electric viola, electric guitar, live sampler (2002)

Double Take (12:00), for viola; electric viola (2001)

Café Mars (15:20), for electric guitar, electric octave violin, electric viola (1999)

Quantum (14:00), for electric guitar, electric viola (1998)

Interior Motives, for mixed ensemble (1997)

Static (7:00), for electric guitar, pedal steel guitar, electric viola (1997)

After the Fall (33:00), for acoustic viola, electric violin, electric viola (1997)

Dreamcatcher II (8:30), for voice, electric viola, electric cello, electric guitar (1996)

No Problem (10:00), for voice, viola, cello, electric guitar (1996)

Rambla (7:00), for violin, viola, cello (1995)

Taking Chances (4:00), for electric octave violin (1995)

Feminine Instincts (12:00), for viola (1995)

random acts... (14:00), for flute, violin, viola, cello, double bass, percussion (1995)

Dreamcatcher, for electric string trio (1995)

Conversion, for electric viola, oboe, percussion (1994)

Winds of Arden, for electric viola, percussion (1994)

Bienvenida, for electric viola, marimba (1993)

Unbalanced Symmetry, for violin, viola, cello, vibes, timpani, congas and tamtam (1993)

Ninnu Juci III, for dancer, string ensemble (1993)

Wavelength, for voice and mixed ensemble (1992)

Theater, dance, and film

The Boy Detective, from Cinema’s First Nasty Women, film (2022)

Toulouse’s Dreams Ballet, ballet (2022)

Stories My Mother Told Me by Nusrat Durrani, non-fiction film. Composer (2018)

Z-Born, short science fiction film. Composer (2018)

Don't Mind Me, short fiction film. Composer (2018)

Switched, short fiction film. Composer (2015)

Past, part 1 miniseries based on Uncle Tom's Cabin. Music and performance (2014)

Art on Everest, sound design. Online biography of Ranan Lurie (2010)

Girl on a Bed, feature film. Additional music (2006)

No Child is Somebody Else's Child, promotional campaign (2005)

Fading Light (60:00), film documentary by Ian Ross (2004)

Two (2:00), filmcue, full orchestra (2002)

Cycle (14:00), ballet (1998)

Interior Motives An Interactive Game (32:00), mixed ensemble (1997)

A Zero Degree (90:00), original music for theatre (1995)

Negatives of an Inhibition, for electric viola, poet and dancer (1992)