map of teewinot, a mountain in the Grand Tetons which was the subject of my 2016 chamber composition for GVSU New Music Ensemble score of Teewinot, a 2016 chamber composition commissioned by GVSU New Music Ensemble public domain image of an eastern elk, the subject of my 2016 laptop music composition and performance documentation of my 2018 immersive audiovisual installation, Souf: For Isabelle a participant experiencing my 2018 immersive VR experience, Souf: For Isabelle some of the audience for my 2019 composition and performance, Music for MELT at Musical Ecologies in Brooklyn, NY, USA we are here fm: 2021 generative geo-tagged hyperrealistic sonic landscape installation instructions for we are here fm: 2021 generative geo-tagged hyperrealistic sonic landscape installation example landscape seen at we are here fm: 2021 generative geo-tagged hyperrealistic sonic landscape installation installation of we are here fm: 2021 generative geo-tagged hyperrealistic sonic landscape installation at university of colorado art museum web image for the conduction series transmission art collective website the conduction series transmission art collective at radio camp 2025 live washing machines for a Conduction Series show titled White Washing image co-located with the sounds of my 2023 composition and performance, blurred portal max patch for 2024 commissioned peabody laptop ensemble composition Sing Broken Ice max patch for 2024 commissioned peabody laptop ensemble composition Sing Broken Ice poster for melt: the memory of ice child on rock overlooking ilulissat icefjord, greenland pan and zoom out over polar ice cap, greenland park bench overlooking arctic sea with icebergs, 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 melt: topographic remix at cu boulder's b2 center for media, arts and performance melt: topographic remix at cu boulder's b2 center for media, arts and performance melt: topographic remix at the new bedford art museum melt: topographic remix at the new bedford art museum melt: topographic remix at the international computer music conference melt: topographic remix at the international computer music conference they called it -- large-scale urban projection at daniels & fisher tower, as part of the night lights denver project pulse memorial: a participatory multi-channel streamed sound installation and performance art project

ABOUT

Hi, I'm Betsey. Thanks for stopping by. I'm a composer creating projects connecting the dots between music, sound, visual art, place, storytelling, and technology. My work has been described by WGBH as "immersive… incredibly stunning… extraordinary" and 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, co-created an international radio art collective, created immersive audiovisual experiences for galleries, computers, phones, and VR headsets, 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 Boulder, where I currently serve as Assistant Professor of Critical Media Practices.


Full bio and CV here.

NEWS

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WORK:

pulse, in progress
49-channel participatory streaming memorial, with august black and brook vann

they called it, 2025
large-scale public digital video projection

MELT (topographic remix), 2024
immersive audiovisual installation

MELT: the memory of ice, 2024
feature-length music-film and cinematic song cycle, with vocalists moving star + hazel biggs

Sing Broken Ice (for Pauline), 2024
music composition for eighteen musicians with networked laptops, and voice, with Peabody Laptop Ensemble

Blurred Portal, 2023
music composition and performance for laptop and vocals

The Conduction Series, 2021-present
international radio art collective, with August Black and others

We Are Here FM, 2021-present
generative web-based audiovisual installation, with August Black

Music for MELT, 2019
laptop music composition and performance

Souf: For Isabelle, 2018
immersive audiovisual experience for VR or gallery, with chantal dumas

For the Eastern Elk, 2016
laptop music composition and performance

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

Sunken Gardens, 2014
17-channel outdoor sound installation

Providence Postcard Project, 2012
participatory postcard installation

Remember, Wake Up, 2011
laptop music composition and performance

Foreign Exchange, 2011
sculptural 3-channel audiovisual installation

Mekong River, Laos, 2011
large-format photograph

Park Bench Cinema: Through the Cracks, 2011
participatory mobile audio walk

Lincoln Park, 2010
large-format sonic photographs

Sound Walk: Caramoor, 2010
participatory sound walk

Park Bench Cinema: Detox Project, 2009
participatory mobile audio walk

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

Ton Yam I, 2008
spatial laptop music composition, performance & installation

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

Park Bench Cinema: Eleven Dreams in Red Hook, 2008
participatory mobile audio walk 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 mobile audio walk

Shadow Mix Fairyland, 2007
interactive public outdoor sound art installation

Untangled, 2007
audiovisual composition and performance

Constellation, 2007
16-channel electroacoustic music composition and performance

Lost and Found, 2007
music composition for chamber ensemble and interactive video, with rebecca stuhlbarg

Happy Idiot, 2007
music composition for solo percussion, 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

Away, 2002
music composition for piano and any group of singers

Six for Seven, 1998
music composition for piano, instruments/samples and optional video

More projects coming soon
(site recovering from malware attack)

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