Ellen Fullman

Ellen Fullman

Fellow: Awarded 2020
Field of Study: Music Composition

Competition: US & Canada

Ellen Fullman has been developing the Long String Instrument, an installation of dozens of wires fifty feet or more in length since the early 1980s. This project encompasses the study of Just Intonation tuning theory, a compositional practice centered on string harmonics, experiments with various wire alloys and gauges, the development of a tablature graphic notation system, and wooden resonator design and fabrication. The enveloping nature of the rich acoustic tones produced by The Long String Instrument evokes a sensation of being inside of a musical instrument. Visit her website for more information.

Awards include: Foundation for Contemporary Arts “Grants to Artists” Award; DAAD “Artists-In-Berlin Program” residency; and Japan-US Friendship Commission/NEA “Creative Artist Exchange Fellowship for Japan”. Her recordings include: The Long String Instrument (Superior Viaduct, 2015) first issued on Apollo Records in 1985 and selected as the number one reissue for 2015 by the Wire; Ort (Choose Records, 2004) produced by Berlin based collaborator Konrad Sprenger; and Fluctuations (Deep Listening Institute, 2007) a collaboration with trombonist Monique Buzzarté that garnered an Aaron Copland Fund grant. Fullman’s work was cited by Alvin Lucier in his book Music 109: Notes on Experimental Music (Wesleyan University Press, 2012).

Photo Credit: Theresa Wong

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