Mumma, Gordon

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(b Framingham, MA, March 30, 1935). American composer and performer of electronic music. He attended the School of Music (1952–3) and Institute of Science and Technology (1959–62) of the University of Michigan and studied composition, piano and the horn privately. As a composer and performer he co-founded and worked with the Cooperative Studio for Electronic Music in Ann Arbor (1958–66) and the ONCE Group (1960–68). Mumma also collaborated with Milton Cohen's Space Theater in Ann Arbor (1957–64) and in New York with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (1966–74) and the Sonic Arts Union (from 1966). With these ensembles and as a soloist, he toured widely in the Americas, Europe and Japan. From 1973 to 1992, he taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz; he has also held numerous visiting lectureships, including Darius Milhaud Professor at Mills College (...