David Cope is a composer/author/computer scientist whose work has been performed throughout the world. His work on algorithmic compositional techniques and procedures, as well as his published works on the subject, are landmarks in the field.
Cope is Professor Emeritus at the University of California at Santa Cruz where he teaches theory and composition, and Honorary Professor of Computer Science at Xiamen University (China). He also teaches regularly at the annual Workshop in Algorithmic Computer Music (WACM) held in June and July at UC Santa Cruz. He was born in San Francisco, California on May 17, 1941.
Following early study on piano (including an extensive performance career) and violoncello, he completed degrees in composition at Arizona State University and the University of Southern California, studying with George Perle, Halsey Stevens, Ingolf Dahl and Grant Fletcher. His over seventy published compositions have received thousands of performances throughout the U.S. and abroad. Ensembles which have performed his works include the Vermont, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Cabrillo Festival, and Santa Cruz Symphony Orchestras, as well as numerous university orchestras and wind ensembles.
Twenty-one of Cope's works appear on recordings. These include: Variations (piano and wind orchestra; Cornell University), Re-Birth (concert band), Concert (piano and orchestra, Mary Jane Cope, soloist), and Threshold and Visions (orchestra). Complete albums of his music have appeared on Folkways (2), Opus One and Discant Records and include a wide range of works from large ensembles to soloists with electronic and computer-generated tape.
