Julie Herndon (b. 1986, Washington, D.C.) is a composer, performer, and sound artist based in California. Her work explores the body’s relationship to sound using tools like musical instruments and personal technologies.
Her electroacoustic work has been described as “truly brilliant” (Kulturpunkt), “like a signal from another world” (Tages-Anzeiger), and “blended to inhabit a surprisingly expressive space” (San Francisco Classical Voice). Her compositions and installations have been presented at MATA Festival and National Sawdust in New York, San Francisco Electronic Music Festival, Sonorities Festival in Ireland, Music Biennale Zagreb in Croatia, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Oaxaca in Mexico, Música Estranha Festival in Brazil, Artistry Space in Singapore, and Abbotsford Convent in Australia. Collaborations include the Decoder Ensemble, andPlay, JACK Quartet, Ensemble Dal Niente, and Kukuruz Quartet.
Julie is the recipient of the Elisabeth Crothers Award for Music Composition, American Composers Forum Bay Area Residency, National Sawdust New Works Commission, George Lurcy Fellowship, Chamber Music America Commissioning Grant, and New Music USA Creator Fund Award. As an artist in residence, she has worked with institutions such as the Cité internationale des arts, Yaddo, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Center for Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT) at Berkeley, I-Park Foundation, and Djerassi Artist Residency Program.
Herndon is currently Assistant Professor of Music Technology and Composition at California Polytechnic State University. She previously taught composition and electronic music production techniques at San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) and the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford. She holds a DMA in music composition from Stanford University, MA in music composition from Mills College, and BA from St. Mary's College of Maryland. Her writing, “Embodied Composition: Composing the Body with Sound” can be found in Leonardo with MIT Press. Her work can be found on the labels Infrequent Seams, Pan y Rosas Discos, and Innova Records.
pc Drew Altizer, Artful Harvest at Djerassi Artist Residency