Biography

Joseph Waters (b. 1952) is a member of the first generation of American classical composers who grew up playing in rock bands. Since childhood he has been intrigued by the confluence and tensions that bind the music of Europe and Africa. These frequently inspire his electro-acoustic compositions. His interests also include the investigation of physiological, sub-cultural pattern seeking mechanisms. He is working on a theory of cognition based on fractals and pattern recognition, with applications in music theory and composition.

Waters is the founder of NWEAMO (New West Electro-Acoustic Music Organization). NWEAMO presents composers and musicians from around the world in concerts that unite the worlds of avant-garde classical and experimental electronica. Each October the NWEAMO Festival travels between San Diego and various international locations. NWEAMO has traveled to venues in Portland OR, Mexico City, New York City, and the countryside of Veneto just outside of Venice, Italy. Beginning in NWEAMO 2007 will also be presented in Boulder, Colorado and Berlin, Germany.

He performs and composes for the Waters_Bluestone_Duel, a collaboration with percussionist Joel Bluestone that explores the combination of live electronics and percussion, as well as SWARMIUS the virtuoso interdisciplinary quartet in residence at San Diego State University.

His work has been performed at venues which include: Australasian Computer Music Conferences Melbourne & Perth (Australia), Beethoven-Haus (Bonn Germany), Bomb the Space Festival Wellington (New Zealand), Composer's Hall Moscow Conservatory (Russia), Festival Internacional Cervantino Guanajuato (Mexico), Hong Kong Cultural Center, Hungarian Radio hosted Budapest & Nadasdy Castle (Hungary), Ljubljana Cultural Center (Slovenia), Rosario & San Martin de los Andes (Argentina), SEAMS Fylkingen Stockholm (Sweden),SoHo Apple Store performance stage New York City, Southern Theater Minneapolis, Theater Kikker (Utrecht Netherlands), Tsing Hua University (Beijing China), UNAM (Mexico City), University of Cadiz & Conservatorio Superior de Musica Valencia (Spain), Univ of Chile (Santiago), Wellington (New Zealand), Venetto Jazz Festival & Acadamia di Canto (Venice Italy), Warsaw Electronic Festival (Poland), and other locations ...

Recordings are available on iTunes, as well as Albany Records and North Pacific Records.

Waters studied composition at Yale University, the Universities of Oregon and Minnesota, as well as Stockholms Musikpedagogiska Institut. Primary teachers were Jacob Druckman, Bernard Rands, Roger Reynolds, Dominick Argento, and Martin Bresnick.