About

The Gassmann Electronic Music Series presents free, public concerts and events focused on electronic, electro-acoustic and computer music, all taking place in the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine. In addition, the Gassmann Electronic Music Studios are comprised of laboratories at UCI for the research, production, and pedagogy of electronic, electroacoustic, and computer music.

The event series and the studios are named in honor of composer Remi Gassmann, who bequeathed his estate to UCI for the purpose of creating a laboratory for research in electronic music. In 1996, Professor Christopher Dobrian joined the faculty of the UCI Music Department and began implementing this gift, serving for the following 25 years as Director of the Gassmann Electronic Music Studios and Gassmann Electronic Music Series.

Thanks to the Professor Dobrian’s extensive work in those roles, the studios grew beyond the initial Gassmann Electronic Music Studio to include a wide range of specialized laboratories and spaces, including the Realtime Experimental Audio Laboratory (a.k.a. the REALab), the Music Collaboration Laboratory (a.k.a. the ColLab), the Sound Studio (a.k.a. the “PhattBoxx”) designed by Michael Hooker, the Music Recording Studio, the Keyboard Instruction Lab, and the CLASSic Synthesizer Studio

In addition, Professor Dobrian initiated the Gassmann Electronic Music Series in 1997 and presented 24 years of concerts, lectures and workshops on diverse forms of electronic, electro-acoustic and computer music, all public events with free admission.

Research and creative work in electronic music has also flourished at UCI thanks to the activity of faculty and students in the Music Department’s graduate program in Integrated Composition, Improvisation and Technology, a novel program that was established as an MFA degree in 2008 and converted to a PhD in 2015.

We hope you will join us for future concerts and events on the Gassmann series!

Michael Dessen
Professor, Department of Music, UC Irvine
Director of the Gassmann Electronic Music Series and Studios