Mark Mantel (b. 1961), in Milwaukee, WI, got his Ph. D. at the State University of New York at Buffalo. David Felder, Burt Levy, and Lejaren Hiller were his primary composition teachers. In addition, his contact with Morton Feldman at SUNY Buffalo has had a significant influence on his musical thought. Mantel's music explores the creation and layering of dense musical materials derived from physical models, text-driven and real-time live electronic elements, "found-objects", theatre and theatrical elements. Significantly, the works of many writers and painters serve as points of departure in much of his music as an attempt to explore artistic processes closely associated with other disciplines. Improvisation, formally, spontaneously, and structurally, play a substantive role in defining his music. He has written for dance, experimental theatre, multimedia, cross-disciplinary collaborations, and the orchestra, as well as traditional chamber ensembles, electronic and tape media. Mantel started his musical life as a percussionist and remains active in the performance of orchestral and chamber music, avant-garde, experimental, rock, blues, and new music, made his European conducting debut at Darmstadt in 1992, and remains active as a conductor and improviser in the U.S. and Europe. He has received grants from Meet The Composer, the California State Universities, the State University of New York, the American Music Center, and others. His music has been heard at various venues throughout the United States, Japan, Australia, and Europe including the North American New Music Festival, the Charles Ives Center for American Music, Muisque d’Aujourd hui, June-In-Buffalo, the New Music Chicago Festival, the Festival for New American Music in Sacramento, and at Darmstadt, in addition to many concert halls, galleries, performance spaces and alternative sites all over the U.S.


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