Sam Pluta

I am a Chicago-based composer, electronics performer, and sound artist. Though interested in many aspects of sound, the central focus of my work is on using the laptop as a performance instrument capable of sharing the stage with groups ranging from new music ensembles to world-class improvisers. By creating unique interactions of electronics, instruments, and sonic spaces, I create vibrant music which fuses the traditionally separate sound worlds of acoustic instruments and electronics, creating a universe focused on visceral interaction of instrumental performers with reactive computerized sound worlds.

Collaboration is a major part of my music-making. For the past decade, I have had the joy of performing with and composing for Wet Ink Ensemble, a New York City-based collective dedicated to performing new music at the highest level. As an improviser, I have long-standing duo collaborations with trumpeter Peter Evans and analog synthesizer guru Jeff Snyder, and I perform on electronics in Peter Evans Ensemble and Rocket Science. I have been blessed to work in close collaboration with a number of incredible artists in creating my music, including Mariel Roberts, ICE, and Spektral Quartet.

I received by DMA in composition in 2012 from Columbia University and I am currently Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Chicago, where I direct the CHIME Studio, work at the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition, and Co-Direct Grossman Ensemble, the University’s 13 piece new music ensemble.

Actuate/Resonate
Two Live Sets (Evans/Pluta Duo)
Broken Symmetries (and the Masses of Gauge Bosons)