The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance announces that Julie Zhu will join the Department of Performing Arts Technology as an assistant professor this fall. Zhu is a composer, artist, and carillonist who has most recently held a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship at the university. Zhu’s work is conceptual and transdisciplinary, operating on an expansive definition of algorithm. Her research interests include the creative and ethical use of AI and machine learning in the arts.
“Being at Michigan has been a dream: very few places have a whole department devoted to technology in creative fields, and the community and support here for innovation in the arts is exceptional,” shared Zhu. “I’m so excited to continue at SMTD!”
As an advocate for intermedia composition, Zhu collaborates with artists and musicians globally. The results of these collaborations have been exhibited at and performed in studios and residencies throughout Europe, North America, and Asia, namely Carnegie Hall (NYC), Herbst Theatre (San Francisco), IRCAM (Paris, France), digitIZMir (Izmir, Turkey), Tetramatyka Festival (Lviv, Ukraine), Sansusī (Latvia), Chicago Home Theater Festival, Miami Design District, College Band Directors National Association, ICMC (Shenzhen, China), among others. Notable commissions came from Radio France, GMEM, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and the University of Chicago Carillon.
“We are very much looking forward to having Julie join the Department of Performing Arts Technology in the fall,” said Sile O’Modhrain, professor and chair of performing arts technology. “Julie’s background in carillon performance and electronic and intermedia composition, and her interest in the use of AI as part of her creative practice, very much complement the skills and interests of our faculty. As a Postdoctoral Presidential Fellow, Julie has already been working with many of our students and collaborating on projects with faculty, including collaborations that have been presented at international conferences such as New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) and AI Music Creativity (AIMC).”
Many of Zhu’s pieces are characterized by constraints, whether it is putting a percussionist (or herself) in a wooden box, drawing circles that are amplified through a speaker dome; or hiding the harpsichordist and keyboard in a cardboard house with live video; or developing the just-intonated harmonic architecture for the specific rotation, orbit, and angle of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars in a string quartet. As she has stated, for her, “art is best as an anonymous gesture and as a trap.”
As a carillonist, Zhu regularly performs on the Baird Carillon in the Burton Memorial Tower and the Lurie Carillon at the University of Michigan and concertizes in the summer. During her time as a visual artist in New York City, she was the resident carillonneur at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue.
Zhu received dual BA degrees from Yale University, a licentiate from the Royal Carillon School “Jef Denyn,” an MFA from Hunter College, and a DMA from Stanford University.