park bench overlooking arctic sea with icebergs, greenland pan and zoom out over polar ice cap, greenland child on rock overlooking ilulissat icefjord, greenland small lake next to ilulissat icedfjord, greenland traditional greenlandic sleds in summer, greenland close-up drone shot along polar meltware in ilulissat icefjord, greenland child's hand on window driving up to polar ice cap, greenland aerial view of the end of ilulissat icefjord melting into the arctic sea, greenland

ABOUT

Hi, I'm Betsey. Thanks for stopping by. I'm a composer and studio artist making projects connecting the dots between music, sound, visual art, place, storytelling, and technology; my work has been described by The New Yorker as 'psychologically complex, exposing how we orient ourselves with our ears.' Over the years I've directed and composed a feature-length documentary film and song cycle, improvised with an international radio art collective, created immersive audiovisual experiences, and composed chamber music and multimedia operas and soundwalks. I earned a Ph.D. in music composition at Princeton University, have held postdoctoral fellowships at Brown University and Harvard University, and have taught music, multimedia, public art, and video at Brown University, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the University of Colorado, where I currently serve as Assistant Professor of Critical Media Practices.

Please note that my website was taken down by malware recently; I'm in the process of rebuilding it.


Full bio and CV here.

NEWS

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WORK

MELT (topographic remix), 2024
immersive audiovisual installation

Sing Broken Ice (for Pauline), (2024)
networked laptop orchestra composition, with Peabody Laptop Ensemble

We Are Here FM, 2021-present
generative web-based installation, with august black

Souf (for Isabelle), 2018
immersive audiovisual VR experience, with chantal dumas

Eastern Elk, 2016
electroacoustic music composition

Teewinot, 2016
notated chamber music composition, with GVSU New Music Ensemble

Sunken Gardens, 2014
17-channel outdoor sound installation

Providence Postcard Project, 2012
participatory postcard installation

Foreign Exchange, 2011
sculptural 3-channel audiovisual installation

Through the Cracks, 2011
participatory sound walk

Remember, Wake Up, 2011
audiovisual performance

Lincoln Park, 2010
large-format sonic photographs

Mekong River, 2010
photograph

Sound Walk: Caramoor, 2010
sound walk

Six4Seven Field, 2010
notated piano and 4-channel video composition/performance

Park Bench Cinema: Detox Project, 2009
participatory soundwalk

Everyone Play: Sound, Space, and the (Re)Making of Place, 2009
PhD dissertation, Princeton University

Ton Yam I, 2009
spatial audiovisual composition/performance

Parallel Lives, 2008
notated flute composition and multimedia theatre, with margaret lancaster

Park Bench Cinema: Eleven Dreams in Red Hook, 2008
large-scale participatory soundwalk and photo map

Sonic Fragments, 2008
sound art festival and symposium, with seth cluett

Wood Spell, 2008
site-specific sound art installation

Park Bench Cinema: Almost Grand, 2007
participatory soundwalk

Shadow Mix Fairyland, 2007
site-specific participatory sound art installation

Shadow Mix Fairyland, 2007
site-specific participatory sound art installation

Untangled, 2007
audiovisual composition and performance

Constellation, 2007
16-channel electroacoustic music composition and performance

Lost and Found, 2007
notated chamber music and video composition, with rebecca stuhlbarg

Happy Idiot, 2007
notated percussion composition, with sam solomon

Breaks, 2006
notated large ensemble + video composition

What's Your Sound?, 2006
participatory drawing art installation

Burble, 2006
participatory sound art sculpture

Shadow Mix: Inside Out, 2006
participatory audiovisual installation

Trinidad Triptych, 2006
3-channel video art installation

Sleep, 2006
single-channel video installation

Fear of Flying, 2006
notated percussion + live video composition, with so percussion

Ocean, 2006
laptop + piano improvisation, with cor fuhler

IRT, 2006
notated electroacoustic and chamber composition, with clogs

the dark has its own light, 2005
graphic/video score for improvising ensemble, with the BSC

path one, 2005
music video, with evidence

74 Chevy, 2004
notated percussion composition

Frog City, 2004
notated cello octet + video composition

More projects coming soon
(site recovering from malware attack)