Thomas Ciufo

he/him

Faculty

Associate Professor of Music
Director of the Media Lab

Research

Thomas Ciufo is a sound artist, composer, improviser, and music technologist working at the intersections of electronic music, electro-acoustic performance, sonic art and emerging digital technologies. He received a Ph.D. in Computer Music and New Media from Brown University where he focused on computer-mediated improvisational performance and interactive instrument design.

Additional research interests include audio recording and production, acoustic ecology and listening practices, and innovative approaches to teaching, learning, and career development. Ciufo also works as a freelance electronic musician and audio engineer/producer. He has performed and presented his work at numerous national and international experimental music festivals and conferences. His recent collaborative CD project, Sonic Constructions was released on the innovative pfMENTUM record label.

Education

Ph.D., M.A., Brown University
B.M., University of Northern Colorado

Happening at Mount Holyoke

Recent Campus News

Media Lab expands Mount Holyoke’s digital offerings

With the opening of the Media Lab in the Art Building, MHC students exploring filmmaking, architecture, studio art and other pursuits, have another cutting-edge facility — as well as state-of-the-art digital equipment and capabilities — at their disposal.

Nine faculty members have been granted tenure. Top row, l-r: Olivia Aguilar; Riché J. Daniel Barnes; Thomas Ciufo. Middle row, l-r: Naomi Darling; Nina Emery; Kerstin Nordstrom. Bottom row, l-r: Heather Pon-Barry; Jared Schwartzer; Jennifer Wallace Jacoby

Nine faculty receive tenure

The Mount Holyoke College Board of Trustees has voted to grant tenure to nine faculty members spanning disciplines from gender studies to physics.

Faculty

MHC’s new technology brings music to all

Thomas Ciufo built a music technology lab to teach students of all musical backgrounds new ways of exploring and creating sound.

More News

Recent Publications

Ciufo, T. (2024) Editorial Collective, Chapter Co-Author. Improvising Across Abilities: Pauline Oliveros and the Adaptive Use Musical Instrument, University of Michigan Press, Music and Social Justice Series. https://press.umich.edu/Books/I/Improvising-Across-Abilities3

Recent Honors

Thomas Ciufo presented, "Teaching Acoustic Ecology: Social Engagement in a Time of Crisis" at the Eighteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society, New Aesthetic Expressions: The Social Role of Art. https://www.culture-connect.net/events/2023/7/5/artsinsociety

Thomas Ciufo (Music) presented a new project called Lines and Circles - an improvisational live performance project using a custom-built modular synthesis system. This concert work was presented at the 17th Ammerman Center Biennial Symposium on Arts & Technology at Connecticut College.

Recently proposed and chaired a panel entitled, Sound and Activism: Acoustic Ecology and Sound Art in the Time of Environmental Crisis. This panel was presented as part of Earth Day Art Model (https://edam2022.deck10.media) a global telematic and media event held on International Earth Day. The festival highlights current artistic perspectives that range from scientific observation to creative works of music and intermedia.

Recently released two CD projects. The collaborative live electroacoustic project, ElectroResonance, is out on the Neuma Record label in stereo and surround sound formats. He also released a 25th anniversary reissue of his first solo ambient electronic music project, Sun at Midnight. Both are available on CD and all major streaming platforms.

Presented Teaching Acoustic Ecology and Sonic Art in the Age of Environmental Crisis at the Responses in Music to Climate Change Conference, October 2021.