academic resume
University of California, Riverside
Department of Music
Riverside, CA 92508
tel: 909-333-9813
email: johnvon@digitalcutuplounge.com
CENTRAL RESEARCH INTERESTS
Music and the Internet, DJ/dance music culture, post-digital music,
musical globalization and hybridization, civil liberties and democracy
in a networked world.
PAPERS/PRESENTATIONS
Music File-sharing: Impacts on the Music Industry.
Unpublished, Jul 2002.
The Digital Music Revolution and the Mumbai Electronic Underground. Paper presented at the
Travel at the Speed of Sound conference sponsored by the Ethnomusicology Graduate Students'
Association of UCLA. Los Angeles, May 2002.
Network Effects: The Internet and the Chinese Rave Scene. (Click here to read this paper online.)
Paper presented at the SEMSCC 2002 (Society of Ethnomusicology, Southern California Chapter) conference.
Pomona College, Pomona, CA, Feb 2002.
The Art of the DJ in the Post-digital Era. Presentation on my work with Stephen Ives as Digital
Cutup Lounge. Digital Distribution and the Music Industry Europe conference, London, Apr 2001.
Peer-to-Peer Music File-sharing Systems. Panelist. With Cory Doctorow (openCOLA), Daniel
Harris (Kendra Initiative), and Eric de Fontenay (Gnutella Japan). DDMI Europe conference, London, Apr 2001.
The Music Business in Cyberspace. Presentation for graduate students in information
technology. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Sep 2000.
The Artist and the Internet. Panelist. DDMI Asia conference on music and the Internet, Hong
Kong, Oct 2000.
Musical Hybridization and the Internet. Presentation. University of Hong Kong, Sep 2000.
EDUCATION
M.A. in Ethnomusicology, University of California, Riverside (pending; expected Jun 2003).
Thesis advisor: René Lysloff. Intended thesis topic: Globalization, technology, and musical hybridization.
M.Phil. in Music, University of Hong Kong, 2002 (pending; expected Aug 2002).
Thesis advisors: Paul Attinello, Karl Kügle, Manolete Mora.
M.Phil. thesis: Network Effects: The Evolution of Music in Cyberspace, an investigation of the artistic impact
of new Internet music technologies.
Advanced study in jazz improvisation and performance, New School University (New York City),
Jazz and Contemporary Program, Sep 1990 - May 1991. Studied bass and improvisation
with Reggie Workman and Gary Peacock, jazz arranging with Bernard Purdie.
B.A. in Music, magna cum laude, Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, 1990.
Thesis advisors: Justin London, Malcolm Lynn Baker.
Senior thesis: The Shape Of Jazz That Came, an analysis of motivic development in the solo improvisation
of jazz bassist Charlie Haden.
Study abroad: Buddhist Studies in India, Antioch Education Abroad, 1987.
GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS
2001 Received a Gluck Fellowship from the University of California, Riverside. The Gluck program
gives support grants to graduate students in exchange for arts outreach work in the community.
2001 Received a Dean’s Fellowship Award from the University of California, Riverside,
to support M.A. study in ethnomusicology.
2001 Received a CRCG Conference Grant for Research Students from the University of Hong Kong
to support travel to the SEAMUS (Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States) 2001 conference
at Louisiana State University.
2000 Awarded a Postgraduate Studentship (teaching assistantship) from the University of Hong Kong
to support M.Phil. study in Music for two years.
1990 Received a one-year full scholarship to pursue advanced study in performance at the Jazz and Contemporary Music Program
at New School University, New York City.
1990 Inducted into Phi Beta Kappa upon graduation from Carleton College.
1990 Carleton College Class of 1990 Sigred & Erling Larsen Award in the Creative and Performing Arts.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
SEM (Society for Ethnomusicology)
AoIR (Association of Internet Researchers)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Teaching Assistant, University of Hong Kong. Jan 2000 - Sep 2001.
Courses as a teaching assistant with lecture responsibilities: Introduction to Musics of the World, Music and Society.
Private Instrumental Instructor, electric bass guitar, Yamaha Popular Music School,
Tokyo, Japan. Jan 1994 - May 1995.
SELECTED RECORDINGS
Network Effects
The most recent CD from John's digital DJ ensemble Digital Cutup Lounge; a network-based collaboration
with musicians and producers scattered around the Pacific Rim. Hong Kong: Gogo, 2002.
Eastern Sunrise
A double CD compilation of new electronic music from Asia including three tracks by
Digital Cutup Lounge. Hong Kong: Universal Music Group, 2001.
Groove
An Australian compilation of electronic dance music from around the region,
including one track by Digital Cutup Lounge. Sydney: Petrol, 2001.
Cutup Mixdown (
The first Digital Cutup Lounge CD, a DJ mix of MP3 tracks from the
Internet combined with live jazz improvisation. Hong Kong: Gogo, 2001.
Sonic Circuits VIII
A CD compilation of recent work by electronic composers around the world which included
my composition Hyper Erhu. St. Paul: The American Composers Forum/Innova Records, 1999.
SELECTED PERFORMANCES
CEAIT (Center for Experiments in Art, Information, and Technology) Electronic Music Festival 2002,
California Institute of the Arts. 2002.
Opening of art exhibition Aftershock at the Market Gallery, Los Angeles. 2001.
Live CD recording with Digital Cutup Lounge at club Jah, Hong Kong. 2001.
Showcase performance for launch of Digital Cutup Lounge CD Cutup Mixdown at club bl.ush, Hong Kong. 2001.
Sonic Circuits VIII Festival of Electronic Music at the University of Hong Kong, presented by Digital Cutup Lounge
joined by Stanford composer Mark Applebaum. 2001.
SEAMUS (Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States) 2001 conference at Louisiana State University.
2001.
CityPoetry Festival 2001. Digital Cutup Lounge joined by two US poets and two djembe drummers
from Senegal. Hong Kong. 2001.
Chinese New Year Music Festival. Digital Cutup Lounge performance. Club Focus, Guangzhou, China. 2001.
Computer performance with Bay Area musician Michael Emenau. Ambient club night dub beautiful, San Francisco. 2001.
Digital Cutup Lounge began three-month series of DJ performances at club phi-b, Hong Kong. 2001.
Experimental club night Virus. Digital Cutup Lounge joined by Beijing-based computer
musician STAFFER3. Club Rojam, Shanghai. 2000.
Series of four Digital Cutup Lounge events at various club and performance spaces in Beijing, China,
joined by STAFFER3. 2000.
Solar Project 2000 outdoor concert sponsored by public broadcaster RTHK. Victoria Park, Hong Kong. 2000.
Digital Cutup Lounge began four-month weekly DJ residency at club Antidote, Hong Kong. 2000.
Ambient music installation at the John Batten Gallery in Hong Kong, performing on computer together
with Taiwanese erhu soloist Hou shih-chieh. 2000.
CityPoetry Festival 2000. Digital Cutup Lounge joined by area poets and HK experimental guitarist David Tong. Hong Kong. 2000.
Played bass and computer in Hong Kong composer Kung Chi-shing’s ‘deconstructed pop opera,’ City In A Broken Sky,
along with cellist Robert Een and percussionist Peter Jarvis from the US. Sha Tin Town Hall, Hong Kong. 2000.
Six-month series of regular Digital Cutup Lounge performances at the Jazz Club, Hong Kong, featuring local jazz musicians
Allen Youngblood and Guy Le Claire. 1999.
Five-month world tour comprising more than fifty performances with Hong Kong pop
singer Andy Lau in Asia, Australia, North America, and Europe. 1999.
Ambient performance with QUPE and DJ Kia of Japanese electronic label Church Records. Club space Bullets, Tokyo. 1999.
Six-month world tour comprising more than sixty performances with Hong Kong pop singer Jacky Cheung
in Asia, Australia, North America, and Europe. 1999.
Weeklong series of performances with Hong Kong improvisational dance ensemble Y-Space. The Fringe Club and other venues,
Hong Kong. 1998.
Live CD recording with experimental guitarist David Tong. The Fringe Club, Hong Kong. 1997.
Weeklong series of performances with US blues guitarist Eddie Clearwater. The Jazz Club, Hong Kong. 1997.
Weeklong series of performances with Japanese jazz pianist Junko Onishi. The Jazz
Club, Hong Kong. 1996.
Six-month world tour comprising more than fifty performances with Hong Kong pop singer Andy Lau
|in Asia, Australia, North America, and Europe. 1996.
Weeklong series of performance with US blues harmonica player Carey Bell. The Jazz Club, Hong Kong. 1996.
Bassist for UK pop singer Paul Young. Heineken Music Horizons festival, Hong
Kong. 1995.
Yearlong world tour comprising one hundred performances with Hong Kong pop singer Jacky Cheung
in Asia, Australia, North America, and Europe. 1995.
Yokohama Jazz Festival. Played bass with the Keshavan Maslak Quartet. 1994.
Organizer, Global Vibration Sessions. Brought together musicians from widely varying musical backgrounds for regular nights
of experimental improvisation at a downtown art gallery. Club Kaeremel, Tokyo. 1993-4.
Member, Sonic Edge Quartet. Co-led an experimental jazz ensemble which played original improvisational music at clubs in Tokyo. 1993-4.
Member, Michael Emenau World Project. An ensemble bringing together elements of electronic music, jazz, and various world traditions
which performed frequently in the Tokyo area. 1992-4.
Bassist for New School Jazz Workshop ensemble performance, directed by Bernard Purdie. The Village Gate, New York City. 1991.