Mark Stewart

Mark Stewart—a world-class multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer and instrument designer—worked with the MIT Glass Lab to create a small chamber orchestra out of glass. With Glass Lab Director Peter Houk, Stewart led a year-long workshop starting in late September to explore new sounds through the design of glass instruments, with an emphasis on the new and bizarre. Throughout the course of the year, students explored the sonic possibilities afforded by the medium of glass, culminating in an ensemble performance in the spring of 2013.

Part of the MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the Glass Lab offers MIT students the opportunity to observe first-hand the material principles learned in the classroom. In addition to its popular extracurricular workshops, the Lab also presents lectures, residencies, and special projects, hosting artists of world renown.

The 2013 Spring Sound Series series laid the groundwork for MIT Sounding, an innovative annual performance series that blurs the boundaries between contemporary and world music founded by Evan Ziporyn in 2014.

The 2013 MIT Spring Sound Series is presented by the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST) and MIT Music and Theater Arts.

Past Events

CAST Marathon Concert
April 5, 2013
Kresge Auditorium
48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

The four-hour CAST spring concert, following up on 2011’s popular FAST Forward New Music Marathon, features renowned guest artists Hauschka, Pamela Z, Dewa Alit and Mark Stewart performing solo works and with students in MIT’s own Gamelan Galak Tika, Glass Lab Orchestra, Lamine Touré and Rambax. Traversing the spectrum of contemporary musical practice, the marathon will conclude with an unprecedented world fusion version of Terry Riley’s anthem In C, featuring Senegalese drums, original glass instruments, electronics and western instruments.

Martin Demaine, Angelika and Barton Weller Artist-in-Residence, MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and  Technical Instructor, MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Glass Lab.

Peter Houk, Technical Instructor, MIT Glass Lab

Mark Stewart’s New York City “lab” is home to an instrument workshop and sonic salon where traditional and new instruments co-habitate. A founding member of the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Mark is also a member of Steve Reich & Musicians and the comic duo Polygraph Lounge and has recorded and toured with Paul Simon since 1998.

More at the artist’s website: Mark Stewart.

Downtown Magazine: Mark Stewart Talks Upcoming Guitar Mash Benefit at City Winer, Working with Paul Simon and More

The New York Times: Experimentation in a Sonic Salon

Bang on a Can: Mark Stewart

Paul Simon Info: Mark Stewart