Izzi Ramkissoon

Izzi Ramkissoon is an award-winning electronic multimedia composer, performer, and sound artist. His laptop and bass are the control center of his sound. He has written works for a variety of media including theater, film, dance, installations, alternative controllers, and interactive multimedia. His compositions deal extensively with the use of technology in composition and have been featured at numerous venues and festivals both nationally and internationally. As a composer his multimedia composition Sub-ter-ain Frequencies 5.1 won the prestigious 2007 Look & Listen Festival 1st place Composition Prize (NYC), will be on tour throughout the United States apart of the 29th Annual Black Maria Film + Video Festival 2010, his recent composition Domesticated Animalia was part of the The Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) National Conference 2010, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF) 2010 and Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Arts 2010, plus large ensemble interactive aleatoric works at community festivals FIGMENT 2010 and InterActive Music NYC 2010 part of Make Music NY. A New York City native, Izzi plays the electric, acoustic double bass, synthesizer and laptop in multiple ensembles in the Tri-State area.  He leads his own multimedia ensembles Cracked Codez (2007) and The Electric Eel Multimedia Ensemble (2009) in NYC and collaborates as a composer/performer with the new music experimental group Kingdom of Jones and DJ Udachi in live sets.

He has performed as a bassist and featured work as an experimental music artist in numerous venues including The Public Theater, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, The Flea Theatre, BAMA Theatre, Historic Landsdowne Theater, WNYC Greenspace, The Stone, The TANK, Issue Project Room, Public Assembly, Monkey Town, Judson Church, The Robert Miller Gallery, National Art Gallery, Soho Gallery for Digital Art, Des Moines Art Center, Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Newark Museum, Axiom Center for New and Experimental Media, Yippe Café Museum, Cornelia Street Café, Crash Mansion, Studio 54, CBGB’s, and Webster Hall as well as Princeton University, Rutgers University, Syracuse University, Bennington College, Penn State University, NYU Skirball, CUNY Graduate Center, St. Cloud University, Bates College, Bard College, Ionian University (Greece), American University of Rome (Rome) and more. Izzi has performed on the same bill with artist such as John Zorn, Flux Quartet, Ethel, QQQ, ICE (International Composers Ensemble), Daedalus Quartet, Paul Lansky, Robert Rowe, Cort Lippe, John Scofield, Vernon Reid, Craig "muMs" Grant, David Anzuelo, Corey Dargel, Cristian Amigo, Annie Gosfield, LAByrinth Theater Company and So Percussion.

Izzi has studied electronic multimedia composition and sound design with Morton Subotnick, Robert Rowe, R. Luke Dubois and electronics with Saul Walker.  His research interest includes interactive multimedia music performance and composition, sensor networks, wireless interface design, multi modal haptic feedback, and music cognition.  His recent interactive projects include, the Beatnik, which is an interactive glove controller used for editing, pitch shifting, warping, glitching drum loops in a real-time performance setting and the Sensor S.O.C.K, which is a gesture based controller interface for multimedia performance. Izzi has earned degrees from the College of Staten Island majoring in both Electrical Engineering and Music.  He is currently pursuing a Master’s in Music Technology at NYU and is planning to further his studies.

Quotes:

"You used everything including the kitchen sink... I love the way you blend sight with sound... that was eclectic, acoustic, futuristic! Thank you!! that was really really cool (Sub-ter-ain Frequencies)" Helga Davis WQRX, Q2, WNYC radio host, Vocalist

"The ending to your piece (Asperity of Lace) was beautiful, ....wonderful work,.. I really enjoyed it.." Julia Wolfe - American Composer, Co-Founder of Bang on a Can

"I really like how you are organizing, getting out there, and putting new music in peoples' faces in such an energetic way! " Eric Lyon SARC, Queen's University Belfast

"Izzi set's the bar really high" Sylvia Kahan Pianist, Educator, Author of In Search of New Scales: Prince Edmond de Polignac, Octatonic Explorer, Banner article