Phil Dadson @ CCRMA
American composer Lou Harrison was so impressed by the sound of Dadson’s instruments he named a star in the Eridanus constellation after him.
Dadson's sound-based artworks take many forms: performances (solo and with his group, From Scratch); videos; installations that crunch underfoot or surprise one with singing stones and talking drums; radio works; sound sculptures and experimental musical instruments; compositions; graphic scores; and sound stories.
A founding member of Cornelius Cardew's Scratch Orchestra (1969), Dadson launched the rhythm/performance group 'From Scratch' in 1974. Over the next decade, the group performed to wide international acclaim. Dadson's musical compositions were praised by New Zealand curator/author Wystan Curnow as "among the greatest works in any art form to come out of this country."
Former senior lecturer and head of Intermedia at Auckland's Elam Art School, Dadson retired in 2001 to pursue his experiments work full-time. Travel and research grants have allowed this New Zealand artist to explore and perform in India, Thailand, Indonesia, France, Switzerland, Hungary, Austria, South America, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Antarctica.
In 2001, Phil Dadson received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award; in 2005, he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.