EMDS YES BIO

Karen Cunningham graduated with a B.A. from Bennington College in 1977, where she studied composition with Vivian Fine and Henry Brandt. She moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1979.

Karen joined the New Mexico Women Composers’ Guild in 1989. In 1990 she submitted a proposal on behalf of the Guild to the New Mexico Arts Division. The resulting grant provided the Guild with the opportunity to tour New Mexico featuring new music performed by New Mexico’s String Quartet, The Helios. Karen premiered her String Quartet composition The Quilt on the tour.

When the state of New Mexico celebrated its Quincentennial in 1992, Karen submitted a grant proposal, Visions of New Mexico, a multi-media production performed by the Albuquerque Children’s Choir, featuring highlights of New Mexico history. The production included collaboration with five composers, a choreographer, and artist. The Choir toured Albuquerque Public Schools. Karen, one of the five composers, wrote original music and a song focusing on the Santa Fe Trail portion of New Mexico history.

On October 4, 1992, Karen participated with the New Mexico Women Composers’ Guild in an international music festival produced by the New Music Alliance, New Music Across America, Albuquerque. Karen premiered her electronic work, Somewhat Symmetrical, for a simultaneous live performance and national radio broadcast.

In 1994, two of her student piano duets, Martians N’ Mars and Mother Earth Lullaby, were published by Voice of the Rockies (BMI).

Karen was Acting President and Concert Coordinator for the New Mexico Women Composers’ Guild until 1998.

In 1997, Karen and eight collaborating artists were part of Sensual Mythology, an interactive adventure and sensory exploration of mythic proportions. The installation was held at the South Broadway Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The work included various sculptures, paintings, video, mixed media, dance and music.

Karen and her husband, Paul Beck, created two large interactive sculptures for Sensual Mythology, a Greek lyre approximately eight feet tall and panpipes approximately 2 ½ feet by 3 ½ feet. Each sculpture had a hidden electronic keyboard within it. Each tone was attached to an infrared detector. When the infrared light was blocked from the detector by walking through the lyre or waving your hand over the holes of the panpipes, an electronic sound representing the instrument was then heard. Karen also produced a recording of electronic music depicting each of the Sensual Mythology artists, which was heard in a video, and more music was recorded for a dancer, also on video.

Since 1994, Karen has been the chairperson for Composers’ Day sponsored by the Albuquerque Music Teachers’ Association. The project places student composers with adult composers in learning and discovering music composition.

Karen was the commissioned composer in 1999 for the Professional Music Teachers of New Mexico. Her work, All Aboard, for piano, synthesizer and multi-media, premiered at the state convention, November 12, 1999, in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The work was then sent to the national competition, The Shepherd Distinguished Composer Award, sponsored by the Music Teachers’ National Association.

Karen teaches private piano to twenty-five students. Her teaching philosophy includes motivating her students to actively participate in other arts side by side with their piano education. She is a member of the Albuquerque Music Teachers’ Association and the New Mexico Federation of Music Clubs. In 2002 she became a member of Sigma Alpha Iota. Students from her studio have won composition awards including Hey Mozart and the New Mexico Young Composer Project.

Karen and Paul have been producing short DVD movies since 2003. They have created productions using PowerPoint, DVD’s, and audio CD’s, all with original music by Karen. Recently, Karen, her husband and a composition student entered the Albuquerque “Local Shorts Film Festival” with their movie, “The Real Story About Casey Jones,” which received the Audience Choice Award in 2009. She and Paul have been working with digital media since 1995.