Kenneth Newby (born 1956) is a Canadian media artist, composer-performer, educator, interaction designer, and audio producer based in British Columbia. He is known for his innovative use of technology in the creation of music, media performances, and installations. He is a research associate at the Center for Culture and Technology at the University of British Columbia, and Director of the Flicker Art Collaboratory.
Early life Newby was born in Victoria, British Columbia.
Career Newby joined the research faculty in media arts at Simon Fraser University, where he was a member of the Computational Poetics research group with Aleksandra Dulic and Martin Gotfrit. At the University of the Fraser Valley he was associate professor in media arts, where he studied creative forces in the field of computational art.
Newby created performances and exhibits which integrated new media diffusion techniques and augmented reality systems, and he developed generative systems for the composition and performance of music and visual art.
In the 1990s Newby released several solo albums, including Ecology of Souls in 1993."Soundscapes". Tucson Weekly, July 1995, by Linda Kohanov He also collaborated on recordings with the groups Trance Mission and Lights in a Fat City.
In 2004 Newby collaborated with the group Gamelan Madu Sari on their album of Javanese music, New Nectar,"Semar's Journey". Georgia Straight, by Alexander Varty on 6 June 2007 and later contributed to their live performance installation, "Semar's Journey", in Vancouver."Semar's Journey". Georgia Straight, by Alexander Varty on 6 June 2007
Newby also worked as an interactivity consultant for Pixar Animation Studios, and as a sound artist and audio software developer at Electronic Arts.
Discography Solo YearNameRef1993 Ecology of Souls"Kenneth Newby Ecology of Souls". AllMusic review; access date 26 April 20131997/2017 Sirens" Kenneth Newby Sirens". AllMusic Review by Sean Cooper1998/2017 Seasonal Round (an opera with libretto and vocal performance by Robert Anthony)2017 Chambers – Emergence Trilogy volume one2017 Elegeia – Emergence Trilogy volume two2017 spectral (golden) lyric – Emergence Trilogy volume three2025 From Emergence2025 From Solitude: music for spectral orchestra
Trance Mission YearNameRef1993 Trance Mission1995 Meanwhile..." Trance Mission Meanwhile". AllMusic Review by Jim Brenholts1996 Head Light
Lights in a Fat City YearNameRef1993 Sound Column"Lights in a Fat City Sound Column". AllMusic Review .1999 Memory Ground
Other appearances YearNameArtistRef1994 Landing Stephen Kent 1995 The Shirt I Slept In Beth Custer 1996 Halcyon Days w/ Steve Roach & Stephen Kent" Stephen Kent / Steve Roach Halcyon Days". AllMusic Review by Carol Wright
References
External links Review: Elegeia – Music for Mixed Ensembles, and Gamelan Semara Dana