Charles Curtis
A graduate of the Juilliard School and the laureate of numerous international competitions, Charles Curtis worked for ten years as Principal Cellist of the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg. His long creative relationships with experimentalists La Monte Young, Alvin Lucier, Tashi Wada and Éliane Radigue have brought into being a body of distinctive solo works modeled on his cello-playing and performing persona. His own creative work has spanned sound-based and installatory work in galleries and alternative spaces, as well as experimental rock merging sustained sine waves and spoken word. His writing has appeared through Oxford, Blank Forms, ArtForum, Sound American and other publishers. Very recent performances have taken Curtis to the Empty Gallery in Hong Kong, the Biennale Son in Valais (Switzerland), Blank Forms in New York, Fondation Cartier in Paris and a series of four solo programs at London’s Café Oto. Curtis has taught since 2000 at the University of California, San Diego, where he is now Distinguished Professor of Music.
