Carter
Williams

Carter Williams was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1976 and is currently based in Cologne, Germany. He is active as a composer, performer and computer musician focusing on new and experimental music. Carter’s  music draws its inspiration from the interaction between performers and technology as well as being rooted in historical performance practice and world music traditions. Recent compositions have investigated extended instrumental techniques (especially new methods for preparing string instruments), nonstandard instruments (e.g. viola d’amore, gu-zheng and baryton), improvisation, natural intonation/microtonality, live-electronics and live-video.

Carter’s performance activities include work with traditional notated music, graphic scores, and free improvisation. A main focus of his work as a performer has been the revival of the viola d’amore and he has already premiered numerous new compositions for the instrument. In addition to concerts in Germany, his works and performances have been featured at numerous international festivals and new music centers including Acht Brücken Cologne, Musica Electronica Nova Wroclow, Garde du Nord Basel, June in Buffalo, Logos Stifting Gent, Osterfestival Innsbruck, and Les Hivernales Avignon.

Carter also works in the areas of Sound-Projection and Computer Music. In the Summer of 2003 he attended the stage de composition et d'informatique at Ircam (Paris) and has collaborated with numerous composers and performers to develop custom software for live-electronics and live-video.

In 2003 he completed a Ph.D. in Music Composition at the Sate University of New York at Buffalo, where his principal composition teachers were David Felder and Erik Oña and he studied computer music with Cort Lippe and Richard Dudas. Before coming to Buffalo, he earned a B.Mus. from Rice University in Houston and studied Musicology at the Technische Universität Dresden. Carter is still active in higher education and has been invited to give guest lectures and workshops at various institutions such as the Musikakademie der Stadt Basel, the University of Huddersfield, Brunel University London, Hochschule für Musik Köln and the Academy of Media Arts Cologne.