Forrest Tobey

Associate Professor

Programs/Departments

• Music

Degrees

• D.M.A., Peabody Conservatory of Music
• M.M., Western Washington U
• M.M., Peabody Conservatory of Music
• B.A., Whitworth College
• B.M., Western Washington U

Contact Info

Campus Mail
Drawer 31

Phone
765-983-1357

E-mail
tobeyfo@earlham.edu

Office
Runyan Center

Office Hours
I'm always in my office, except when I'm not.

Website
Website Link

Selected Courses

Music Theory 1: The Joy of Composition and Counterpoint Music Theory 2: Tapping the Tradition Music Theory 3: The Roots of the Music of our Time Composing with Computers

Biography

I was born in Brooklyn, New York, raised in Ramsey, New Jersey, educated in the states of Washington, Colorado and Maryland and spent 3 significant years living in India. I play the piano, loving Bach and Beethoven, Debussy and Ravel, Gershwin and Copland, but also eternally drawn to the candle flame of jazz playing, revering Evans and Monk, Miles and Coltrane, Jarrett and Corea. I compose, but want to compose more, much more. The clock is ticking. My music is inflected by mode because of my love of Indian classical music and jazz, but there's the experimental side as well because of the odd things I've done with computers and gestures. I'm a Buchla Lightning performer. I've played Times Square and the National Gallery. I'm not done with that yet. Now I teach at Earlham College. I love it, it's a great place to be. I'm here for the long haul.

Research Projects

The interaction between gesture and computer. How does a computer respond musically to human gesture? Currently exploring the deep relationship between music and mathematics. I aspire to be Magister Ludi, the master of the Glass Bead Game.