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Michael Edgerton
Professor
- Professor, Teachers (Malmö Academy of Music)
- Phone+4640325476, +460738021961
Personal profile
Artistic work
Michael Edgerton is an active composer with performances around the world. His compositions have received international prizes and recognition including the important German award, the Kompositionspreis der Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart for his composition the Tempo Mental Rap, a series of six variations for guitar based upon a Steve Vai transcription of a Frank Zappa rap. Michael’s compositions utilize a broad range of musical influences such as European avant-garde, American experimentalism, progressive rock and world music. Since the mid-90s Michael’s compositions have been informed by scientific models and metaphors. Initially stemming from his studies with voice science and dynamical systems, he’s built a body of work that explores the integration of nonlinear concepts applied to sound production and compositional constraints. While the methods and systems he develops are often influenced by science, it is his intuition – his ear that gives birth to the music.

Michael Edgerton is at the forefront of vocal exploration by extending the technical and expressive capabilities of voice. As composer, researcher and performer, he has presented new developments in the search for the limits of sound production. Notably, he has systematically investigated extra-normal singing using the tools of voice science and psychoacoustics. This approach has earned Mike considerable renown for those interested in the present and future of modern (experimental) voice.
Michael has received prizes for his compositions and his music has been performed around the world by ensembles including 441 Hz Chamber Choir, AuditivVokal Dresden, Berliner Cappella, C Asean Consonant Ensemble, China-Asean Youth Orchestra, Ekmeles Ensemble, Ensemble Ars Nova, Ensemble: Either/Or, Ensemble Proxima Centauri, Evergreen Experimental Music Ensemble, Guangxi Symphony Orchestra, Kairos String Quartet, Landesjugendchor Saar, Loadbang, Merle Noir, New Music Coop’s Combo Ensemble, St John’s Vocal Exploration Gatherings, Southwestern University (China), Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, Quartet New Generation, Via Nova Choir (Munich), VocalX Choir, Works-in-Progress Ensemble and by artists Almut Kühne, Andreas Fröhling, Angela Rademacher-Wingerath, Argenta Walther, Chatschatur Kanajan, Gary Verkade, Hu liu, Jan Heinke, Jeffrey Burns, Joshua Hyde, Mats Möller, Matt Hinchliffe, Matthias Bauer, Mattias Johansson, Moritz Ernst, Philippe Arnaudet, Rebekka Uhlig, Simon Strasser, Stefan Östersjö, Stephanie Aston, Timo Kinnunen, among others.
Olaf Katzer, Artistic Director of AUDITIVVOKAL DRESDEN has written, “Forty years after Luciano Berio’s “Sequenza” the American composer Michael Edward Edgerton has illuminated in his study “Anaphora” the expressive potential of the human voice. A kaleidoscope of 56 different categories of vocal multiphonics shows the wealth that the human carries in vocal expression. It pays to listen closely because simply there are many never heard before sound landscapes, in which multiphonic and polyphonic sound cosmos appears, although they are given by only one woman. These sounds are based neither on witchcraft, nor cast by a mystical spell, but are the result of scientifically based research in the field of voice, made by the composer himself and in his book “The 21st Century Voice”. Since the publication of his book “The 21st Century Voice” (2004), the American composer Michael Edgerton has become one of the leading experts in the search for the expressive possibilities of contemporary voice. No other composer has so systematically and unconditionally applied a compositional approach to every possibility of the human voice. “Anaphora” is at the same time a sound study, in which is presented his research on 56 different classes of vocal multiphonics, opening up a new sound universe.”
Research
Michael is engaged with research. In 1995, Michael was asked by Barney Childs and Philip Rehfeldt to contribute a book on modern vocal techniques to the New Instrumentation Series. Since his approach has been to focus on the mechanics of voice production, Michael applied for and received a three-year Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Center for Voice and Speech to study voice science and participate on research projects that included: reinforced harmonics, chant, ingressive airflow phonation, vocal violence. In 2005, THE 21St CENTURY VOICE was published by Scarecrow Press, with the second edition being released ten years later with Rowman & Littlefield. The book proposes continued exploration of vocal production based within the framework of voice science. Michael has also published scholarly articles on music composition, the extra-normal voice, nonlinear phenomenon and multidimensional scaling in sound production. Michael was recognized in the “Marquis Who’s Who in the World” since 2015. His creative and scholarly outputs has significant impact as evidenced by citations in books, articles and dissertations/theses.
UKÄ subject classification
- Music
- Biophysics
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Network
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Research output
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- A multiphonic harmonic on vibraphone (pedagogy – video)Tzschoppe, O. & Edgerton, M., 2021 Sep 8Research output: Non-textual form › Other Open Access
A report on influences from superfluid turbulence in Der Rufer for percussion quartet
Edgerton, M., 2021 Sep 9, In: Art and Science . 5, 3, p. 51-62 11 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article Open Access
Der Rufer (e106) (webpage)
Edgerton, M., 2021 Oct 19, Word Press.
Research output: Other contribution › Web publication/Blog post › Research Open Access
- Der Rufer (recording on Soundcloud)Edgerton, M. & Tzschoppe, O., 2021 Oct 16Research output: Non-textual form › Web publication/site Open Access
- Entrelacé (e108): Le son multiphonique au vibraphone Edgerton, M., 2021Research output: Non-textual form › Artistic work
Projects
- 6 Active
- Malmö Academy of Music in cooperation with Seoul National UniversityEdgerton, M. & Choe, U.2021/08/01 → 2022/07/31Project: Network
- Collaboration between European Spallation Source (Weisend) and the Malmö Academy of Music (Edgerton)Edgerton, M. & Weisend, J.2019/11/21 → 2024/02/16Project: Network
- vibraphone – multiphonic harmonicEdgerton, M. & Tzschoppe, O.2019/11/13 → 2023/03/16Project: Research
- CROCUS Kulturens rum och kreativitetens villkorFredriksson, C., de Wit Sandström, I., Warkander, P., Andersson Cederholm, E., Willim, R., Lyrevik, A., Houmann, A., Sjöholm, C., Skovbjerg Jensen, C., Umut Aslan, D., Bjerg, D., Saaristo, E., Högdahl, E., Severinsson, E., Hoff, E., Säwe, F., Skoogh, F., Olsson, J., Enevold Duncan, J., Dahlqvist, J., Lindqvist, K., Gradén, L., Espersson, M., Ledendal, M., Nehl, M., Edgerton, M., Bergmasth, M., Thufvesson, O., Rasmussen, P., Wolgast, S., Lebech, S., Andersson, M., Loodin, H., Hofvander Trulsson, Y., Dahlqvist, J. & Landau, F.2019/06/19 → …Project: Network
- voice researchEdgerton, M., Brusoni, F. & Herbst, C.1995/06/12 → 2025/08/24Project: Research
Activities
13 Performance 7 Organisation of festival/exhibition/concert/performance 6 Supervision of PhD students 4 Public lecture/debate/seminar
- More
- 25% PhD Seminar: Fernando Garnero with Mauro Lanza (discussion)Michael Edgerton (First/primary/lead supervisor)2021 Oct 21Activity: Examination and supervision › Supervision of PhD students
- 25% PhD Seminar: Fernando Garnero (artistic presentation) Hybrid FluxMichael Edgerton (First/primary/lead supervisor) & Kent Olofsson (Second supervisor)2021 Oct 20Activity: Examination and supervision › Supervision of PhD students
- 25% PhD Seminar: Bertrand Chavarría-Aldrete with Stefan Östersjö (discussion)Michael Edgerton (First/primary/lead supervisor) & Kent Olofsson (Second supervisor)2021 Oct 15Activity: Examination and supervision › Supervision of PhD students
- Artist introduction | Bremer SchlagzeugensembleMichael Edgerton (Organiser)2021 Oct 6Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Organisation of festival/exhibition/concert/performance
- GAGEEGO! & ELEFANTÖRA IN CONCERT Michael Edgerton (Organiser) & David Riebe (Organiser)2021 Oct 12Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Organisation of festival/exhibition/concert/performance
Prizes
- 2016. 1ST EXCELLENT AWARD, 5th China-Asean Composition Competition, THRUSHEdgerton, Michael (Recipient), 2016Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
2007, Kompositionspreis der Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart for the Tempo Mental Rap by Michael Edward Edgerton
Edgerton, Michael (Recipient), 2007
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
2007. SEMIFINALIST, Composition Contest of the Netherlands Radio Choir, Kalevi Matus
Edgerton, Michael (Recipient), 2007
Prize: Other distinction
- 2003. SÉLECTION, 5th Dutilleux International Composition Compétition, 1 SonataEdgerton, Michael (Recipient), 2003Prize: National/international honour
- 2001. SÉLECTION, 31st Festival Synthese Bourges, The Elements of Risk in CreationEdgerton, Michael (Recipient), 2001Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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