CNMAT extends its heartfelt thoughts to all who knew, revered, and loved CNMAT Director and Professor David Wessel (October 6, 1942–October 13, 2014) as we mark the 10th anniversary of his passing. David’s legacy resonates deeply across the UC Berkeley campus, particularly at CNMAT and in the Department of Music.  

Many remember that David Wessel organized the inaugural International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) at Michigan State University in 1974, helping to solidify the foundation for a growing field. From 1976-1988, David served as the Director of Pedagogy and Software Development for IRCAM. Recruited to the UC Berkeley Music Faculty in 1988, Wessel was appointed director of CNMAT and during his 26-year tenure presided over an unprecedented explosion of scientific and creative research that established CNMAT as a world-renowned center for Computer Music. Known for his original contributions to Music Cognition, Wessel eloquently explains the relationship between mind, body, and music perception in this short YouTube video. David had a knack for bringing together voices from across disciplines in academia and industry to foster new ideas and the development of hardware and software to support emerging modalities in music creation and performance. He also built a thriving new music community with frequent concert performances, jam sessions, colloquia, summer courses, and barbecues at 1750 Arch Street. 

CNMAT is dedicating its annual 2024-25 concert series to David, with events held in the Main Room Sound Spatialization Theatre at 1750 Arch Street. The series includes the Spring 2024 CNMAT concerts in the new Wu Performance Hall within the Department of Music, as well as a special CNMAT-produced concert featuring instruments and live electronics with the ECO Ensemble, conducted by David Milnes, set for February 1, 2025, in Hertz Hall. The state-of-the-art 16-channel audio system in the Wu Performance Hall was designed by Brendan West, AV Technical Lead for the Department of Music, and Jeremy Wagner, Technical Director at CNMAT. It draws inspiration from the pioneering work at UC Berkeley's CNMAT, initially conceived by David Wessel and his accomplished collaborators, including Adrian Freed (Research Director, 1989-2016), Matthew Wright (Music Systems Designer, 1993-2008), and Richard Andrews (Associate Director, 1996-2021).

Drawing inspiration from Wessel’s groundbreaking ideas, CNMAT Co-Director Edmund Campion just released a recording of a piece dedicated to the memory of David Lester Wessel. Late Bloomer, for piano four hands, played by the renowned duo Marilyn Nonken and Manuel Laufer and available on Score Follower/YouTube.  CNMAT’s Co-Director, Professor Carmine-Emanuele Cella, whose music focuses on writing the sound itself, continues the CNMAT legacy with a unique vision of how music research and creation inform one another. He mentors interdisciplinary graduate students whose work includes a presentation at the recent 2024 ICMC in Seoul, Korea.

David, we miss you!

Carmine-Emanuele Cella
Edmund Campion
Co-Directors, Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT)

(photo: Richard Andrews)