Jason Sloan: (Chair, Interactive Arts & Sound Art )
Jason Sloan is an electronic musician, composer, and sound artist practicing in Baltimore, Md. His sound art explores immateriality and its relationship to memory, systems and the virtual world. Besides his notoriety in the ambient and space music scenes for close to two decades, Jason has released over twenty studio albums, and has been included on multiple various artist collections.
In 2011 Jason began working under the moniker L’Avenir. This project explores Sloan’s long time love of dark synth and minimal wave music.
L’Avenir’s music is created purely from analog, modular and/or vintage synthesizer equipment and has released multiple albums on Barcelona’s Cold Beats Records, Germany’s Eins:Zwei:Acht and Beläten in Sweden. L’Avenir continues to release LPs, perform live around the world and has now become Sloan’s main creative project.
Sloan received his BFA from Edinboro University and his MFA from Towson University. In addition to being the recipient of multiple Maryland State Arts Council’s Individual Artist Awards, Sloan’s performances, installations, net.art and video works have been exhibited internationally including Berlin, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Kiev, Nagoya, Saint-Petersburg, Toulouse, Lisbon, Uden and Vienna. In addition to releasing over a dozen studio albums over the last decade on various record labels, Sloan has played live all over the US, Canada and Europe including the influential Live Constructions radio program at Columbia University, Berlin’s Liquid Sky TV, STEIM in Amsterdam, CMMAS in Morelia, and Philadelphia’s The Gatherings concert series, one of the country’s oldest continuing ambient and electronic music series.
Contact: jsloan [at] mica [dot] edu
Web: Linktree
B/C: https://lavenir.bandcamp.com/
Erik Spangler: (Adjunct Faculty)
Erik Spangler (DJ Dubble8) is a composer and electronic musician living in Baltimore, Maryland. Engaged equally with ensemble improvisation, live electronics, studio production, and notated music, Spangler aims to dissolve cultural boundaries while drawing all corners of inspiration into evocative soundscapes. His compositions have been performed across the United States and internationally by ensembles including the Atlantic Brass Quintet, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Rhymes With Opera, and International Contemporary Ensemble.
Performances as an electronic musician include collaborations with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra, American University Jazz Workshop, and Cornell Symphony Orchestra. Founder of The Vigil all-night music festival at MICA (2010-present), he is also co-founder of Mobtown Modern music series (2008-12) and Baltimore Boom Bap Society (2011-present) live improvised hip hop collective/music series.
Spangler holds degrees from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music (B.M., Music Composition, 1999) and Harvard University (Ph.D., Music Composition, 2004). He has taught sound art, music production, live electronic music, and composition at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Towson University, Ithaca College, and K-12 schools in Baltimore, with additional work as a musical accompanist for modern dance classes at Towson University, Goucher College, and University of Maryland.
Contact: espangler [at] mica [dot] edu
B/C: https://erikspangler.bandcamp.com