Bio


Studied with Brian Ferneyhough, Joji Yuasa, Rand Steiger; additional studies with Roger Reynolds, Phillip Rhodes, Mary Ellen Childs, Conlon Nancarrow.

Selected commissions: Fromm Foundation, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Vienna Modern Festival, Paul Dresher Ensemble, American Composers Forum, Betty Freeman, Zeitgeist, Meridian Arts Ensemble, MANUFACTURE (Tokyo), Belgium’s Champ D’Action, ADEvantgarde / Bayerische Theaterakademie (Munich), Electronic Music Midwest, Jerome Foundation, Harmida Trio.

Recipient of the American Music Center’s Stephen Albert Award, Hincks Fellowship at Villa Montalvo Artist Colony, Jazz Society of Southern California Prize, 2005 2nd place emsPrize from Electronic Music Stockholm, Stanford’s 2003 Gores Award for Teaching Excellence.

Performances include: Darmstadt New Music Courses, ICMC, Festival Spaziomusica, Young Nordic Music Festival, Sonic Circuits Hong Kong, SEAMUS, Southeastern Composers League, SIGGRAPH, the American Composers Orchestra’s OrchestraTech, Piano Spheres, Northwestern University New Music Marathon, the College Music Society, BONK Festival, Borges Festival in France, UNYAZI Festival South Aftrica, Time Canvas and TRANSIT Festivals in Belgium, the Essl Museum in Vienna, NIME at IRCAM in Paris, and the Kennedy Center.

Papers include Experience Music Project’s Popular Music Studies conference, an article in New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century.

Additional fields of interest include sound-sculpture design, jazz performance, collaborations with neural artists, animators, architects, florists, choreographers, laptop DJs. Recordings released on Innova, Tzadik, SEAMUS, & Capstone. Taught at Mississippi State University, Carleton College, and the University of California, San Diego.

Academic Appointments


  • Professor, Music

Administrative Appointments


  • Associate Professor, Stanford University (2007 - Present)
  • The Leland & Edith Smith Faculty Scholar, Stanford University (2010 - 2013)
  • Stanford Parents University Fellow in Undergraduate Education, Stanford University (2010 - 2015)
  • Assistant Professor, Stanford University (2000 - 2007)
  • John Philip Coghlan Fellow, Stanford University (2004 - 2006)
  • Assistant Professor, Mississippi State University (1997 - 2000)
  • Assistant Professor (The Dayton-Hudson Visiting Artist), Carleton College (1996 - 1996)
  • Lecturer, University of California, San Diego (1996 - 1997)
  • Associate, University of California, San Diego (1994 - 1994)
  • Associate, University of California, San Diego (1995 - 1996)
  • Teaching Assistant, University of California, San Diego (1990 - 1996)
  • Senior Teaching Assistant (Supervisor/Trainer), University of California, San Diego (1992 - 1993)
  • Senior Teaching Assistant (Supervisor/Trainer), University of California, San Diego (1995 - 1996)
  • Visiting Professor, University of Chile (2009 - 2009)
  • Residency Program Visiting Artist, Banff Centre for the Arts (2006 - 2006)
  • Guest Composition Professor, University of Oregon (2006 - 2006)

Honors & Awards


  • Leland & Edith Smith Faculty Scholar, Stanford University (2010)
  • Hazy Family University Fellow, Stanford University one of the Bass University Fellows (2010)
  • Mentor Recognition Award, University of California, San Diego (2005)
  • The EMS Prize (Electronic Music Sweden), Pre-Composition for 8-channel tape. Second prize (2005)
  • SEAMUS Award for Best Use of Technology, SEAMUS conference for the mouseketier soundsculpture (2004)
  • Walter J. Gores Award, Stanford University (2003)
  • Pre-Composition, National SEAMUS conference at Arizona State University (2003)
  • Appreciation of Mentorship Award, Stanford University (2003)
  • Whitaker Reading Sessions invitee for Skumfiduser!, American Composers Orchestra (2002)
  • Citation for Sargasso (83+) for cello, The 2001 Hultgren Solo Cello Works Biennial (2001)
  • Silver Award for Best Public Program, Mississippi Association of Broadcasters (2000)
  • Stephen Albert Award, American Music Center (1997)
  • Jazz Performance and Composition Award, University of California, San Diego (1996)
  • The 1995 Teaching Assistant Excellence Award, University of California, San Diego (1995)
  • Jazz Performance and Composition Award, University of California, San Diego (1994)
  • Southern California Jazz Society Prize, Southern California Jazz Society (1993)
  • The 1992 Teaching Assistant Excellence Award, University of California, San Diego (1992)
  • Sigred & Erling Larsen Award in the Creative and Performing Arts, The Carleton College Class of 1989 (1989)
  • John Philip Coghlan Fellowship (a two-year, endowed chair), Stanford University (2004)
  • Hincks Fellowship, Villa Montalvo Artist Colony Residency (1997)
  • Tuition Scholarship, Darmstadt New Music Summer Courses (1994)
  • Scholarship Prize, The Jazz Society of Southern California (1994)
  • Tuition Scholarship, Darmstadt New Music Summer Courses (1992)
  • Visiting Fellow, Trinity term, Oxford University, Brasenose College (2011)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations


  • Featured Festival Visiting Artist, Center for Creativity and the Arts residency. California State University Fresno (2013 - 2013)
  • Featured Festival Visiting Artist, Contemporary Music Festival. Sam Houston State University (2013 - 2013)
  • Featured Festival Visiting Artist, 61st Festival of Contemporary Music. Louisiana State University (2006 - 2006)
  • Featured Festival Visiting Artist, ECLECTRONICA Microfestival. University of Michigan (2004 - 2004)
  • Featured Festival Visiting Artist, Electronic Music Midwest 2002 (2002 - 2002)
  • Featured Festival Visiting Artist, A Little Now Music. Brevard College (2001 - 2001)
  • Festival Visiting Artist, Time Stands Still: Notation in Music Practice, Wesleyan University (2013 - 2013)
  • Festival Visiting Artist, Atlantic Center for the Arts: Residency #134 (2009 - 2009)
  • Festival Visiting Artist, Roots & Rhizomes: Contemporary Percussion Performance. Banff Centre for the Arts (2009 - 2009)
  • Festival Visiting Artist, PRO ARTE Festival (2008 - 2008)
  • Festival Visiting Artist, Quiet Music Festival (2008 - 2008)
  • Festival Visiting Artist, Instruments/Interfaces Festival, Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel (2008 - 2008)
  • Festival Visiting Artist, SONORITIES Festival (2007 - 2007)
  • Festival Visiting Artist, Stockholm New Music (2006 - 2006)
  • Festival Visiting Artist, Festival of New American Music. California State University, Sacramento (2005 - 2005)
  • Festival Visiting Artist, TRANSIT Festival (2005 - 2005)
  • Festival Visiting Artist, UNYAZI Electronic Music Festival (2005 - 2005)
  • Festival Visiting Artist, Time Canvas Festival. Het MukHa Museum for Contemporary Art (2004 - 2004)
  • Festival Visiting Artist, New Music Marathon. Northwestern University (2003 - 2003)
  • Festival Visiting Artist, EMC Electronic Music Festival. Lawrence University (2003 - 2003)
  • Festival Visiting Artist, Orchestra Tech. As one of 22 selected delegates. Sponsored by the American Composers Orchestra (2001 - 2001)
  • Co-producer, <541> Music from Stanford CD series (2004 - Present)
  • Chamber Music Live Committee Member, Stanford University (2002 - 2006)
  • Assistant Producer, Stanford Symphony Orchestra recording session at Skywalker Sound Studio (2001 - 2001)
  • Site producer, Sonic Circuits V electronic music concert (1998 - 1998)
  • Site producer, Sonic Circuits VI electronic music concert (1999 - 1999)
  • Site producer, Sonic Circuits VII electronic music concert (2000 - 2000)
  • Friends of Music Board Member, University of California, San Diego (1993 - 1995)
  • Coordinator, University of California, San Diego New Music Forum (1989 - 1993)
  • Chair, University of California, San Diego Sonic Diasporas Festival Steering Committee (2011 - 2011)
  • Member, American Composers Forum, McKnight Fellowship review panel (2008 - 2008)
  • External Reviewer, faculty reappointment files, University of Michigan
  • External Reviewer, faculty reappointment files, University of California, Irvine
  • External Reviewer, faculty reappointment files, Boston University
  • External Reviewer, faculty reappointment files, University of California, San Diego
  • External Reviewer, faculty reappointment files, Concordia University, Montreal
  • External Reviewer, faculty reappointment files, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
  • External Reviewer, faculty reappointment files, Northwestern University
  • External Reviewer, faculty reappointment files, University of Pittsburgh (2007 - 2013)
  • Pelzer Composition Prize adjudicator, University of Iowa (2006 - 2006)
  • Fall Composition Juries juror, University of California, San Diego (2005 - 2005)
  • Competition juror, SEAMUS/ASCAP Prize (Society for Electroacoustic Music in the United States) (2005 - 2005)
  • Juror for national Jazz Piano Competition, American Pianist Association (2004 - 2004)
  • Festival Selection Juror for the 2004 annual conference, ICMC (International Computer Music Conference) (2004 - 2004)
  • Invited Delegate, University of California, San Diego EVENT V Festival (2003 - 2003)
  • Peer Reviewer, American Composers Forum San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Subito Grant Program (2003 - 2003)
  • Festival Selection Juror, SEAMUS (Society for Electroacoustic Music in the United States) (2002 - 2002)
  • Selection Judge, Djerassi Artist Colony (2001 - 2002)
  • Member, American Pianist Association, National Jazz Advisory Council (2001 - 2001)
  • Member, Provost’s Diversity Cabinet, Stanford University (2012 - 2013)
  • Member, Stanford Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid, Stanford University (2010 - 2013)
  • Chair, Stanford Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid, Stanford University (2012 - 2013)
  • Member, Stanford Introductory Seminars Advisory Board, Stanford University (2011 - Present)
  • Member, Bing Overseas Study Program Director Search Committee, Stanford University (2011 - 2012)
  • Member, Faculty Musicologist Search Committee, Stanford University (2011 - 2012)
  • Member, Stanford Study of Undergraduate Education Student Learning Committee, Stanford University (2010 - 2011)
  • Member, Fortieth and Forty-First Faculty Senate, Stanford University (2007 - 2009)
  • Member, Stanford Lively Arts, Advisory Committee, Stanford University (2008 - 2012)
  • Faculty Composer Search Committee Chair, Stanford University (2007 - 2008)
  • Member, Stanford Initiative in the Creative Arts Undergraduate Task Force, Stanford University (2006 - 2011)
  • Member, Introductory Seminars Award Committee, Stanford University (2006 - 2006)
  • Member, Subcommittee on University Honors Awards, Stanford University (2006 - 2007)
  • Judicial Affairs Board Jury Member, Stanford University (2004 - 2006)
  • Committee Member, Faculty Composition Search, Stanford University (2004 - 2005)
  • Director, Undergraduate Studies, Stanford University Music Department (2003 - 2005)
  • Faculty TA Coordinator, Stanford University Music Department (2003 - 2005)
  • Chair, Music Department Undergraduate Studies Committee, Stanford University (2002 - 2004)
  • Chair, Music Department Undergraduate Studies Committee, Stanford University (2006 - 2007)
  • Committee Member, Music Department Graduate Studies Committee, Stanford University (2007 - 2009)
  • Composition Program Representative, Music Department Chair’s Cabinet, Stanford University (2002 - 2004)
  • Composition Program Representative, Music Department Chair’s Cabinet, Stanford University (2006 - 2009)
  • Marmor Composition Award judge, Stanford University (2001 - 2001)
  • Marmor Composition Award judge, Stanford University (2002 - 2002)
  • Committee Member, Composition Advisory Council, Stanford University (2000 - Present)
  • Undergraduate and Graduate Advisor, Stanford University (2000 - Present)
  • Member, Music Department Liaison to the Mitchell Memorial Library, Mississippi State University (1999 - 2000)
  • Undergraduate Advisor, Mississippi State University (1997 - 2000)
  • Ensemble composer, Champ D’Action (Ensemble, Antwerp, Belgium) (2004)
  • Treasurer, SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group of Computer Graphics, OK chapter) (1998 - 2000)
  • Member, BMI (Broadcast Musicians, Inc.) (1994)
  • Member, KODA (the national performing rights licensing organization of Denmark) (1991 - 1994)
  • Member, The American Composers Forum
  • Member, ICMA (The International Computer Music Association)
  • Member, SEAMUS (The Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States)
  • Member, SCL (The Southeastern Composers League)
  • Member, SCI (The Society of Composers, Inc.)
  • Member, CMS (The College Music Society)
  • Member, The American Music Center
  • Member, The Association for Computing Machinery
  • Director, Stanford Improvisation Collective, Stanford University

Professional Education


  • Ph.D., The University of California, San Diego, Music Composition (1996)
  • M.A., The University of California, San Diego, Music Composition (1992)
  • B.A., Carleton College, Music (1989)

2023-24 Courses


All Publications


  • Pedagogical Praxis and Curricular Infrastructure in Graduate Music Composition Contemporary Music Review Applebaum, M. 2012; 31
  • The Metaphysics of Notation Sight Sound Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics Applebaum, M., Zett, H. 2010; 6
  • Progress Report: The State of the Art after Sixteen Years of Designing and Playing Electroacoustic Sound-Sculptures New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century Applebaum, M. 2006; 4
  • Culture Sculpture Community Matters Applebaum, M. edited by Ford, M., Sills, E. S. Addison Wesley Longman Press. 2004
  • Janus ReMix for 2-channel tape Theory Essentials: An Integrated Approach to Harmony, Ear Training, and Keyboard Skills, Volume 2 Mayfield, C. E. edited by Applebaum, M. Thomson/Schirmer. 2003: 386
  • 56 1/2 ft. for chamber orchestra Theory Essentials: An Integrated Approach to Harmony, Ear Training, and Keyboard Skills, Volume 2 Mayfield, C. E. edited by Applebaum, M. Thomson/Schirmer. 2003: 368
  • The Go-Go’s Women and Music in America Since 1900: An Encyclopedia Applebaum, M. Greenwood Press. 2002
  • Entre Funérailles IV Journal of Music Scores Applebaum, M. 2002; 32
  • The Fine Art of Auto-Plundering Sounding Board Applebaum, M. 2000