Kenneth Fields, Ph.D. Professor of Media Arts, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. His main area of research is computer music.
Email: kennethfields@ucas.ac.cn
Teaching Courses
Electronic Music and Technology: Laptop Orchestra
About
Ken Fields’ main area of research focuses on the new practice of live network music performance (NMP). NMP refers to real-time, collaborative music making and performance over high-speed networks (Internet2). He is the creator of Artsmesh software for live network music collaboration. Ken developed the two year course (bachelor and graduate level) on computer music at the Central Conservatory of Music (China). He is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Organised Sound and the Electroacoustic Music Studies Asian Network (EMSAN)
Educational Background
1994-2000 Ph.D. in Media Arts. University of California Santa Barbara. Studied with Curtis Roads.
1990-1994 Bachelor Degree from the College of Creative Studies, University of California Santa Barbara.
Work Experience
CEO 2018-2021. Artsmesh LLC. Software platform for live network music performance.
2018-Current - Full Adjunct Professor, Media Arts and Technology Program, University of California Santa Barbara.
2003-2023 - Foreign Professor, Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, China.
2008-2013 - Canada Research Chair in Telemedia Arts, University of Calgary, Canada.
2002-2007 - Assoc. Professor, Department of Digital Art and Design, School of Software and Microelectronics, Peking University
Recent Research
The Digital Score EU Grant (DigiScore). Investigating the technological transformation of the music score. Co-Investigator. 2021-2025. European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. ERC-2020-COG – 101002086).
Project leader: The Netronome. A Networked Metronome. Funded by DigiScore EU Grant, University of California, Santa Barbara. Current.
TENOR Conference. Boston 2023. International Conference on Technologies for Music Notation and Representation. Paper: 声易经 The ShengYiJing, Book of Sound Changes. A Comparison of Spectromorphology and 声易学 Shēng Yì Xué (Sound Changes Study).
SOMI: Summit on Music Intelligence. Beijing 2021. Conference Talk: Live Networked Music.
Created Ph.D. program and performance studio for Network Music direction at the Central Conservatory of Music. First English language thesis program at CCOM.
CREATE Network Music Ensemble. Performance titled: ‘You See Us Be.’ Fall 2019. NowNet Arts Symposium Concert. Stony Brook University. Collaboration with Elder Conservatorium, University of Adelaide.
CREATE Network Music Ensemble. Performance titled: ArtSciNet. Sound and Science Symposium: Organized by UCLA ArtSci Center. Collaboration with Havestworks, NY. Spring 2019.
CERNET2 Grant 2016-18. 赛尔网络下一代互联网技术创新项目任务合同书 2015年度. “实时网络音乐与多媒体艺术表演.”
Lead China National Textbook Translation Project. Computer Music Tutorial, by Curtis Roads. MIT Press. 1996. Chinese Translation: 计算机音乐教程(上、下). 出版社：人民音乐出版社 2011.
Recent Publications
Battier, Fields, Liu. Eds. Chinese Electroacoustic Music Today. Journal Organised Sound. Cambridge University Press. Vol 27 Issue 3, Dec 2022.
Battier, M., & Fields, K. Electroacoustic Music in East Asia. Routledge. Taylor & Francis Group. London and New York, Routledge. 2020
Fields, K. Ed. Phonosophy. Journal of Organised Sound. Cambridge University Press. 2020.
Fields, K. On Phonosophy. Journal of Organised Sound. Cambridge University Press. 2020.
Fields, K. and Emmerson, S. Chapter, Extended Music Performance on the Network. The Routledge Research Companion to Electronic Music: Reaching out with Technology. 2018.
Fields, Kenneth. Syneme: Live. Organised Sound, Cambridge University Press. 17.1: 86-95. 2012.
Fields, K., Whalley, I. Editorial: Networked Electroacoustic Music. Organised Sound, Cambridge Univ. Press. 17.1: 1-3. 2012.
Fields, Kenneth. Editorial: Language. Organised Sound. Cambridge University Press. 12.2. 2007.
Fields, Kenneth. Ontologies, Categories, Folksonomies: An Organised Language of Sound. Organised Sound 12.2: 101–111, Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Fields, Kenneth. The Map is the Territory. Proceedings of the Consciousness Reframed Conference: Qi and Complexity. Bejing. 2004.
Grants/Awards
The Digital Score EU Grant (DigiScore). Investigating the technological transformation of the music score. Co-Investigator. 2021-2025. EU 2M funded research grant with collaboration between UK, China, US, Canada and Australia. DigiScore is funded by the European Research Council (ERC).
CERNET2 Grant 2016-18. RMB150K. 赛尔网络下一代互联网技术创新项目任务合同书 2015年度. “实时网络音乐与多媒体艺术表演.” #NGII20151302
Canada Research Chair. 2008-2013. $1M. Canada Research Council (CRC).
