Michael J. Schumacher has worked with spatialized sound, computers and
electronics since the 1980s, creating multi-channel, generative “Room Pieces”
presented in galleries, museums, concert halls, public and private spaces. XI
Records has published a DVD set of five sound installations as computer
applications, playable on up to eight speakers, which may be installed on a computer
to create sound environments in the home. “Living Room Pieces” is another generative
installation designed for home listening; in 2021 Schumacher created an edition of
10 for Raspberry Pi. “The Portable Multi-channel Sound System” is an 8 or 12 channel
system that fits in a suitcase, with which he has toured Europe and the United
States. His interest in the intersections of musical form, architecture and social
spaces led to the founding, in 1996, of Diapason, a gallery devoted to the
presentation of multi-channel sound installations, long-duration performances and
intermedia artworks. In its 15 years of existence Diapason presented over 300
artists, at a time when sound art was emerging as a distinct practice in the United
States. Schumacher is the music director of the Liz Gerring Dance Company and
performs regularly with choreographer Sally Silvers. He studied music composition
with Stanley Applebaum, Bernhard Heiden, John Eaton and Vincent Persichetti and
piano with Seymour Bernstein, John Ogdon and Shigeo Neriki, and has degrees from
Indiana University and Juilliard. He also worked with La Monte Young and Milton
Babbitt. He has collaborated with choreographers, poets, architects, musicians and
filmmakers including Oren Ambarchi, Bruce Andrews, Tom Chiu, Charles Curtis, Ken
Jacobs, Victoria Meyers and Ursula Scherrer.
