Electro-acoustic music pioneer
Rolf was a sound and music VISIONARY. ALWAYS UNDERSTANDING thE PAST. ALWAYS AHEAD OF HIS TIME.
"contemporaneity in all his works remains fresh, undiluted. It was not dated by style or time but retained a value which is rare among composers of our time. He was the very best at everything and will be missed."
Rolf Gehlhaar was a composer of instrumental electronic and computer music. He was a pioneer in musical interactivity and has developed an interactive music performance system named SOUND=SPACE since the late 70′s. Other works include generative visuals and music, computer-aided composition and performance instruments and computer controlled kinetic sculptures exhibited at Kinetica Museum London and in private collections internationally.
After studying Philosophy and Science at Yale University and postgraduate studies in Music at the University of California, Berkeley, he was hired by Karlheinz Stockhausen for three years after which he became a freelance composer and performer. He received over 50 major commissions, prizes and appointments at the worlds leading international electronic and computer music research institutions.
In 2010 Rolf founded the collaborative organisation Human Instruments along side his youngest son. An organisation which continues to research, design and develop high quality and ground breaking accessible music technology and instruments with musicians with physical disabilities.
Rolf passed away in July 2019 ∞
Memorial retrospective radio show of Rolf's music by Hagop Heath-Matossian
