Steve Parker
steve-parker.net | steven.c.parker@gmail.com | 312 498 6047
EDUCATION
2012 DMA, The University of Texas at Austin - Harrington Scholar
2005 Fulbright Scholar, Musikhochshule Trossingen, Germany
2004 MM, Rice University
2002 BM, Oberlin Conservatory of Music
BA Applied Mathematics, Oberlin College
GRANTS AND AWARDS
2025 Creative Capital Award
Texas State Artist Laureate
金車文藝中心 KCCA Artist In Residence
2024 Fulbright Senior Scholar - Taiwan
Asian Cultural Council Fellowship
National Endowment for the Arts
2023 Pollock-Krasner Award
McKnight Foundation Visiting Composer Fellowship
Dallas Museum of Art: Dozier Award
National Endowment for the Arts
2022 Music Academy Alumni Enterprise Award
REA Charitable Trust
2021 Rome Prize
Mid America Arts Alliance Artistic Innovations
2020 Ashurst Art Prize, London, United Kingdom
National Endowment for the Arts: Art Works
New Music USA
Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Mid America Arts Alliance Artistic Innovations
2019 National Endowment for the Arts: Art Works
CUE Art Foundation Open Call Winner
Mid America Arts Alliance Artistic Innovations
2018 Tito’s Prize
New Music USA
Amphion Foundation
2017 National Endowment for the Arts: Art Works
2016 Copland Foundation
2015 New Music USA
2014 ArtPlace: Drawing Lines
Puffin Foundation
2013 ArtPlace: Social Practice Lab
2009 Harrington Scholar
2005 Fulbright Scholar
SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS / PERFORMANCES
2027 HOUSTON IS SINKING, Musiqa, Houston, Texas (forthcoming)
2026 Locust Projects, Miami, Florida (forthcoming)
FIGHT SONG, SPACES, Cleveland, Ohio (forthcoming)
2025 Ivester Contemporary, Austin, Texas (forthcoming)
金車文藝中心 KCCA, Taipei, Taiwan
2023 Weird Winter, Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
Sonic Meditation for Solo Performer, Fusebox Festival / Co-Lab Projects, Austin, Texas
FIGHT SONG, Art League Houston, Houston, Texas
Solo Meditation, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Austin, Texas
2022 Creative Director, Hermés of Paris, Austin, Texas
Foreign Body, Ivester Contemporary, Austin, Texas
SOUND TREATMENT, Sala Diaz, San Antonio, Texas
Foghorn Elegy, Laguna Gloria, The Contemporary Austin, Texas
2021 Futurist Listening, Rich Mix, London, United Kingdom
Performative Listening, Old Jail Art Center, Albany, Texas
2020 Futurist Listening, CUE Art Foundation, New York
Day is Done, Galveston Arts Center, Galveston, Texas
2019 War Tuba Recital, Presa House, San Antonio, Texas
2018 That Dark Electric, University of Chicago Presents, Chicago, Illinois
Sound Parade, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
War Tuba Recital, Big Medium, Austin, Texas
2017 TRAFFIC JAM, Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival, San Antonio, Texas
BAT // MAN, Fusebox Festival, Austin, Texas
2016 TRAFFIC JAM, Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, Florida
2014 Theatricals, Miller Theatre, Columbia University, New York
Way of Timbre, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
PUBLIC ART
2027 Austin Bergstrom Airport ($560,000) - in progress
2025 Water Music, San Antonio Botanical Garden ($38,000)
Furniture Music, Beacon Capital Group ($65,000)
2024 Invisible Music, City Place, Houston, Texas ($125,000)
Fanfare, City of Meridian, Idaho ($50,000)
2022 Listening Trees,City of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas ($200,000)
WAR TUBA, City of Albuquerque, New Mexico ($25,000)
2020 Sound Garden, KMFA 89.5 FM Austin, Texas ($60,000)
Tubascope, City of Ketchum, Idaho ($30,000)
Interimaginary Departures, City of Austin - assisting Janet Zweig in LaunchPAD ($950,000)
2019 Bluescycle, City of Conway, Conway, Arkansas ($50,000)
2017 Tubascopes, Art in Public Places TEMPO, Austin, Texas ($10,000)
2016 LO FI CYCLE, Art in Public Places TEMPO, Austin, Texas ($10,000)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS / PERFORMANCES
2022 It’s Not Fair, Fusebox Festival, Austin, Texas
CraftTexas 2022, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, Texas
2021 Aluminum Forest, Villa Aurelia, Rome, Italy
Spazi Aperti, Accademia di Romania, Rome, Italy
Art Prize, BBA Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Texas Biennial, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas
2020 A Song of Coexistence, Gwangju Media Art Festival, Korea
Ashurst Prize Group Show, Ashurst Gallery, London, England
2019 Outta Space, Sculpture Month Houston, Houston, Texas
Of Texas, Lease Agreement, Lubbock, Texas
SXSW UNESCO Media Arts Exhibition, Austin, Texas
Group Hug 8, Big Medium, Austin, Texas
Group Hug 8, Mantle Art Space, San Antonio, Texas
Dimension Gallery Sculpture Garden, Dimension Gallery, Austin, Texas
War Tubas, Thinkery Children’s Museum, Austin, Texas
Fortlandia, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas
Brasspocolypse, New Media and Art Summit, Austin, Texas
2018 Secret Radio, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Away Message, Sweet Pass Sculpture Park, Dallas, Texas
2017 Naked Lunch, Lincoln Center Festival, New York
Correspondence Series #4, Fusebox, Angers, France
Bridge Music, Crystal Bridges of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
Bread & Butter: Milk, ICOSA Gallery, Austin, TX
Crit Group, grayDUCK, Austin, Texas
2016 Pierre Boulez Memorial, KKL Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland
Shelter, Disney Hall, Los Angeles Philharmonic INsight Festival
Red Sliders, Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
2015 SoundAtlas, Drawing Lines, Austin, Texas
Rainbow’s End, New Media and Art Summit, Austin, Texas
Season of Innocence, Ballet Austin, Austin, Texas
2014 Really Good Elevator Music, Asian Arts Initiative, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Recycled Sounds, Fusebox Festival, Austin, Texas
folk re-imagined, SXSW, Austin, Texas
Music for Wilderness Lake, The Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas
2013 Music on Pearl, Asian Arts Initiative, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Bells and Bees, New Spaces New Formats Festival, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Everyone But Jones, The Stone, New York
Chimpanzees, Lucerne Festival, Lucerne, Switzerland
Inuksuit, The Contemporary Austin - Laguna Gloria, Austin, Texas
June in Buffalo, Buffalo, New York
Tre Pezzi, Southsite, Hong Kong
folk re-imagined, Brass in the Ruins, Fortheim, Germany
2012 It Happens Like This, Guggenheim Museum, New York
Third Practice Festival, Richmond, Virginia
Keren, Perspectives: Xenakis Festival, Austin, Texas
broken bones, SEAMUS Electronic Music Conference, Appleton, Wisconsin
...zwei Gefule, Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York
Movement and Music, Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
folk re-imagined, Basel Musikerwohnhaus, Basel, Switzerland
folk re-imagined, Stuttgart Musikhochshule, Stuttgart, Germany
2011 The Language and Sound Project, Futureplaces, Porto, Portugal
Terrain, Tanglewood Music Festival, Lenox, Massachusetts
Trance, Le Poisson Rouge, New York
BASTA!, Fast Forward Austin, Austin, Texas
Ground Round, Jennifer Norback Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
Ground Round, University of Brasilia, Brazil
2010 ...zwei Gefule, EMPAC - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York
Ground Round, LaTex Festival for Experimental Music and Sound Art, New Orleans
Sound and Language Project, CentralTrak Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2009 Trance, Bang on a Can Marathon, New York
Requiem, Le Poisson Rouge, New York
2008 Sound and Language Project, MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts
Sound and Language Project, KKL / Lucerne Festival, Lucerne, Switzerland
Sound Construction, Bowerbird, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2007 Sound and Language Project,KKL / Lucerne Festival, Lucerne, Switzerland
Sound and Language Project, Bowerbird, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sound and Language Project, The Red Room, Baltimore, Maryland
2006 MEN, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, Illinois
Tre Pezzi, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, Illinois
Kernel Panic, Roulette, New York
Spoletude, Spoleto Festival, Charleston, South Carolina
2005 Sequenza V, BACKFABRIK, Berlin, Germany
Sequenza V, Spoleto Festival, Charleston, South Carolina
COMPOSITIONS
Futurist Meditation (2020)
For horn, sousaphone, and brass sculptures
Premiered by David Byrd-Marrow, horn, and Sam Kulick, sousaphone, January 2020
CUE Art Foundation, New York
NewsNoise (2020 version)
Participatory work for newspapers, Pop Rocks candy, voices, and electronics
Premiered January 2020
CUE Art Foundation, New York,
Symphony No. I-35 (2019)
Participatory work for 10-part automobile choir
Premiered by Austin Soundwaves, June 2019
State of Texas Parking Garage, Austin, Texas
Sound Parade (2018)
For automobile choir, marching band, bike polo team, and amplified shopping carts
Premiered by Bentonville High School Marching Band and Fayetteville Bike Polo team, September 2018
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
Brasspocolypse (2018)
For trombone choir, sculptures, and robotic instruments
Premiered by the University of Texas Trombone Choir and Matt Steinke, robotic artist,
March 2018
SXSW Music Festival
Echo Chambers (2017)
For automobile choir, marching band, and amplified piano cart
Premiered by the UTSA Marching Band, Mark McCoin, percussionists, and Spectrum New Music Ensemble, November 2017
Luminaria Arts Festival, San Antonio, Texas
REQUIEM (2017)
For reclaimed brass instruments, electronics, and audience
Premiered July 2017
grayDUCK Gallery, Contemporary Austin Crit Group Show, Austin, Texas
Austin Lament (2017)
For string orchestra, electric guitar, bass, percussion, and robotic instruments
Premiered by Church of the Friendly Ghost, Thomas Echols, guitar, and Matt Steinke, robotic musician, March 2017
Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
Sonata Fort e Forte (2016)
For trombone choir and 8-channel track
Premiered by the UTSA Trombone Choir, February 2016
Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
BAT // MAN (2016)
For chorus, conch shells, funnel horns, live audio feed of bats, echolocation devices, and percussion
Premiered by Panoramic Voices and Cullen Faulk, percussion, April 2016
Fusebox Festival, Austin, Texas
Slushpump (2015)
For trombone choir and pedicab fleet
Premiered by the UTSA Trombone Choir and Texas Trike Pilots, June 2015
Fusebox Festival, Austin, Texas
The Crucible (2014)
Fixed media
Commissioned and premiered by Ballet Austin, February 2014
Ballet Austin, Austin, Texas
Really Good Elevator Music (2014)
Fixed media
Premiered at the Asian Arts Initiative, Philadelphia, March 2014
The Way of Timbre (2013)
For 12 trombones, didgeridoos, and closely tuned sine waves
Premiered by the Arkansas Trombone Troupe, June 2013
Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
Liminal Spaces (2013)
For interconnected brass and electronics
Premiered by Mike Gurfield, trumpet, and Nathan Koci, horn, June 2013
The Stone, New York
Bells and Bees (2013)
For trombone, euphonium, electronics, and live audio feed of honeybees
Premiered by Steve Parker, trombone and Jebney Lewis, euphonium, September 2013
Bowerbird Series, Christ Church, Philadelphia
Sonic Collages (2012)
For trombone and tape delay system
Premiered by Steve Parker, trombone, May 2012
Centraltrak Gallery, Dallas, Texas
SELECT LECTURES / RESIDENCIES / MASTERCLASSES
2020 University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
2019 Oberlin Conservatory, Oberlin, OH
McNay Art Museum San Antonio, TX
2018 The University of Texas at Austin
2017 University of Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
2016 Miami Dade College, Miami, FL
Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY
2015 Rice University, Houston, TX
Augustana College, Rock Island, IL
2014 Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
2013 Asian Arts Initiative, Philadelphia, PA
2012 Aarhus Conservatory Denmark
The University of New Mexico
2011 Appalachian State University, Boone, NC
2010 EMPAC - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
2020 “Steve Parker, Futurist Listening,” Axis Web Magazine Japan, February 2020.
Grace Ebert, “Brass Horns Mounted in Interactive Sculptures by Steve Parker Emit Sound By Touch,” Colossal, January 21, 2020.
David Behringer, “Circuit Boards of Sound: The Sculpture of Steve Parker,” Design Milk, January 21, 2020.
2019 Shartogasheva, Anastasia, “Sound Sculptures You Can Play,” Popular Mechanics Russia, Oct 12.
Van Ryzin, Jeanne Claire, “KMFA Commissions a ‘Sound Garden’ from Artist Steve Parker,” Sightlines, Sept 19.
Keith, Tammy, “Musical sculpture installed in Conway park,” Nov 10.
Glentzer, Molly, “Sculpture Month Houston an immersive experience,” Nov 15.
Rindfuss, Bryan, “Presa House Gallery to Open 'War Tuba Recital,’” San Antonio Current, July 3.
2018 Austin Art in Public Places: Celebrating Thirty Years of Public Art In Austin, Dana Frank, 2018 catalogue.
What We Want Is Here: Neighborhood Projects 2012-2018, Asian Arts Initiative, 2018 catalogue.
Gelman, Annelyse, “Threat, Therapy: Steve Parker’s WAR TUBA RECITAL,” Glasstire, November 12.
Van Ryzin, Jeanne Claire, “Steve Parker’s Surround Sounds,” October, Arts and Culture Texas, October.
Jean, Melany, “Steve Parker: War Tuba at Big Medium,” Austin Chronicle, Nov 9.
Pearce, Kitty, “Steve Parker: WAR TUBA RECITAL at Big Medium,” Art Profiler, Oct.
Van Ryzin, Jeanne Claire, “Steve Parker’s Surround Sounds,” Sightlines, October.
Baker, Neal, “Steve Parker,” Tribeza, October.
Faires, Robert, “Steve Parker Wins 2018 Tito's Prize,” Austin Chronicle, Jul 17.
Zech, Brandon, “Steve Parker Wins Second Annual Tito’s Prize,” Glasstire, July 18.
van Ryzin, Jeanne Claire, “Steve Parker Wins $15,000 Tito’s Art Prize,” Sightlines, July 17.
Barnes, Michael, “Austin artist, musician Steve Parker wins $15K Tito’s Prize,” Austin American Statesman, August 1.
Gallager Ross, Anna, “Steve Parker on his Grackle-Inspired Sound Walk Around Austin,” Fusebox, Feb 16.
Stayton, Jennifer, “Pest Or Pal? Artists Explore Austin's Long, Strange Relationship With Grackles,” KUT, April 18.
Dickens, Grace, “Dell Medical School makes music with medicine at SoundSpace event,” Daily Texan, Nov 5.
Wen, Dana, “Body Noises: Austin Composers and Medical Scientists Collaborate on “Biosounds” Performance,” Sightlines, Oct 27.
2017 Brenner, Wayne Alan, “Austin’s Steve Parker Has Built You a New Set of Ears,” Austin Chronicle, Sept 13.
Quinton, Luke, “What is Steve Parker actually doing?” Sightlines, Nov 9.
Brown, Katarina, “SoundSpace Reframes the Refugee Conversation,” Austin Chronicle, June 3.
2016 Faires, Robert, “A Bicycle Built for Tunes,” Austin Chronicle, Oct 7.
Brenner, Wayne Alan, “Steve Parker's Song for Bat / Man,” Austin Chronicle, April 8.
Rodriguez, James, “Experimental musician combines bat sounds, human music in latest endeavor,” Daily Texan, April 7.
Ariza, Mario, “Traffic Jam Makes Music From Art Basel Gridlock, Miami New Times, Nov 30.
Cohen, Howard, “Art Basel 2018 and Miami Art Week: Here’s how to get around all of that crazy traffic,” Miami Herald, Dec 1.
Zeldin, Natalie, “On the Edge: Steve Parker Transfers the Trombone into the Spotlight,” KMFA, Feb 26.
Demndoza, Ana, “Traffic Jam At The Freedom Tower Parking Lot,” MDC Times, Nov 19.
Conroy, Andrew, “SoundSpace: Come As You Are: Art of the 1990’s.,” KUTX, Feb 17.
Corroto, Mark, “Henry Kaiser/Steve Parker/Damon Smith/Chris Cogburn: Nearly Extinct,” All About Jazz, March 17.
2015 Allen, David, “Ensemble Signal’s Musicians Do Solo Turns in Theatricals,” New York Times, Sept 30.
Faires, Robert, “Best Composer off the Beaten Track,” Austin Chronicle, May 2015.
2014 Van Ryzin, Jeanne Claire, “Musician’s project invites people to play music in City Hall parking garage,” Austin American Statesman, May 14.
Arts In Context, “Wilderness Lake,” KLRU PBS, August 14.
Faires, Robert, “SoundSpace: Downtown NYC 1960,” Austin Chronicle, April 25.
2013 Sander, Jourden, “SoundSpace,” Daily Texan, March 6.
Sigler, Andrew, “SOUNDSPACE: GRAPHIC NOTATION,” New Music Box, Nov 4.
2012 Sigler, Andrew, “BLANTON SOUNDSPACE: SPACE AND SYMMETRY,” New Music Box, Nov 5.
2011 Sigler, Andrew, “SOUNDSPACE TAKES AN ARTS AUDIENCE EXPLORING,” New Music Box, Nov 15.
CURRENT POSITIONS
2012-present Executive Director, Collide Arts, 501(c)(3)
2012-present Associate Professor of Practice, The University of Texas at San Antonio