About

Richard Karpen (b. New York, 1957) is a composer and researcher in multiple areas of music and the arts. His compositions for both electronic media and live performance are widely known, recorded, and performed internationally. Since the early 1980s, he has been at the forefront of developing computer applications for music composition, interactive performance, and the sonic arts. Karpen is also active as a pianist. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stanford University, obtained in 1989. He is a Professor of Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS) and Music Composition at the University of Washington in Seattle. He was the founding Director of DXARTS in 2001 and served as Director of the School of Music from 2009 to 2020. His work has earned numerous awards, grants, and prizes, including those from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bourges Contest in France, and the Luigi Russolo Foundation in Italy. Karpen has composed works for many leading international soloists and ensembles, including Judith Bettina, Garth Knox, Melia Watras, Stuart Dempster, Laura Chislett, Jos Zwaanenberg, Stefan Östersjö, The Six Tones, JACK Quartet, The Seattle Symphony, and the Harry Partch Ensemble. He is a founding member of the experimental improvisation ensemble Indigo Mist, alongside Cuong Vu, and has performed and recorded as a pianist with artists such as Cuong Vu, Bill Frisell, Ted Poor, and Steve Rodby. His compositions and performances have been recorded on various labels including Wergo, Centaur, Neuma, Le Chant du Monde, DIFFUSION i MeDIA, Fleur du Son, Capstone, and RareNoise.

Research topics

• Computer science
• Visual arts
• Art
• History
• Speech recognition

Selected publications

• Music of Today Series presents Music by Harry Partch (1901-1974) performed on the Harry Partch Instruments May 26, 2015

  2015-05-26

  article
  Publisher

• Music of Today Series presents The 21st- Century Piano with Cristina Valdes, piano February 26, 2013

  ResearchWorks at the University of Washington (University of Washington) · 2013-02-26

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Concert Program

  Publisher

• The Vu/Karpen Project, February 14, 2012

  2012-02-14

  article
  Publisher

• UW School of Music Scholarship Celebration November 2, 2014

  ResearchWorks at the University of Washington (University of Washington) · 2012-11-03

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Concert Program

  Publisher

• Scholarship Donor Celebration November 6, 2011

  ResearchWorks at the University of Washington (University of Washington) · 2010-11-07

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Concert Program

  Publisher

• An Interview with James Dashow

  Computer Music Journal · 2003-06-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  June 01 2003 An Interview with James Dashow Richard Karpen Richard Karpen Box 353680, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 USA, karpen@u.washington.edu, www.washington.edu/dxarts Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Author and Article Information Richard Karpen Box 353680, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 USA, karpen@u.washington.edu, www.washington.edu/dxarts Online ISSN: 1531-5169 Print ISSN: 0148-9267 © 2003 Massachusetts Institute of Technology2003 Computer Music Journal (2003) 27 (2): 14–29. https://doi.org/10.1162/014892603322022646 Cite Icon Cite Permissions Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Search Site Citation Richard Karpen; An Interview with James Dashow. Computer Music Journal 2003; 27 (2): 14–29. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/014892603322022646 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll JournalsComputer Music Journal Search Advanced Search This content is only available as a PDF. © 2003 Massachusetts Institute of Technology2003 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

  PublisherDOI

• CARTAH: A Concert of Electroacoustic Music, March 3, 2003

  2001-03-03

  article
  Publisher

• Concert of Percussion and Computer Music, May 15, 2001

  2001-05-15

  article1st authorCorresponding
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• Csound's phase Vocoder and extensions

  MIT Press eBooks · 2000-05-01

  book1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

• CARTAH/SMCC Studio Report

  The Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association · 2000-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The Center serves a diverse group

  Publisher

Frequent coauthors

• William O. Smith

  3 shared

• Gus Carns

  3 shared

• Eric Vanderbilt-Mathews

  2 shared

• Huck Hodge

  2 shared

• R. J. Tucker

  2 shared

• Natalie Ham

  2 shared

• Levi Gillis

  2 shared

• David Kappy

  2 shared

Awards & honors

• Recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts
• Recipient of awards from the Bourges Contest in France
• Recipient of awards from the Luigi Russolo Foundation in Ita…