Roland Kuit - Composer and sound artist
photography: Karin Schomaker
Roland Kuit (1959) is a Dutch composer and sound artist. His artistic path is mainly characterized by the urge to redefine the horizon of sonic art and composition. With his installations, sonic environments and concerts using the latest computer techniques, he pushes existing standards.
In the 1970s, Kuit – only eleven years old – took flute and piano lessons at the Royal Conservatory and experimented with sound recordings on a tape recorder. He soon became fascinated by electronic music. Kuit takes lessons in electroacoustic music and sound design at the Institute for Sonology in Utrecht, the predecessor of the Sonology course at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.
There he discovers – with teachers Gottfried Michael Koenig, Jaap Vink, Frits Weiland, Claude Fautus – the enormous possibilities that the analogue and computer studio offer for new forms of sound generation. This is followed by private lessons with Dick Raaijmakers, with whom he frequently philosophizes about the blurring boundary between music and visual arts. During his IRCAM period in Paris, he takes composition classes in spectral music. 'Spectral' composers explore the sound itself with all possible shades of timbre: high and low, long and short, but also deep, into or beyond the core.
Kuit's work is firmly rooted at the intersection of art, music and science. He has emerged as an avant-garde force and pioneered the integration of audio art into installations. His musical portfolio is impressively diverse and includes everything from experimental sound architectural installations to acoustic performances and site-specific creations.
After his studies, Roland focuses on further research and is asked worldwide for lectures, exhibitions and concerts in galleries, museums and universities. He also gives masterclasses in creative hubs in Europe, the United States, Asia, Russia, and the Baltic States. In 2016, NASA selected his music to be sent on chip aboard the OSIRIS-Rex mission.
'I believe in ideas. I translate concepts into unique, immersive sonic experiences' - Roland Kuit
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