Julie Herndon

Julie Herndon is a composer, performer, and sound artist exploring the body’s relationship to sound.  

Her work combines musical instruments and personal technologies and has been described as “truly brilliant” (Kulturpunkt), “like a signal from another world” (Tages-Anzeiger), and “blended to inhabit a surprisingly expressive space” (SFCV). Her compositions and installations have been presented at MATA Festival and National Sawdust in New York, Artistry Space in Singapore, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Oaxaca (MACO) in Mexico, Music Biennale Zagreb (MBZ), Sogar Theater in Zurich, and by Forest Collective in Australia. Recent collaborations include andPlay, the Decoder Ensemble, 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, Chamber Music America Commissioning Grant, New Music America Creator Fund, National Sawdust New Works Commission, and Georges Lurcy Fellowship. As an artist in residence, she has collaborated with institutions such as the Cité Internationale des Arts, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Center for Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT) at Berkeley, Djerassi, and I-Park artist residency programs.

Herndon is currently Assistant Professor of Music Technology and Composition at 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 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.

For sounds, visit Infrequent Seams, pan y rosas discos, and Innova Recordings.