91ÊÓƵ

Dr. Seth Cluett

Assistant Professor of Sound Media

Bio

Seth Cluett is a composer and artist whose quiet, patient music explores the territory between the senses, with a compelling attention to perception. His work is driven by themes of ecological collapse and resilience, often expressed through materials found in nature. Ranging from photography and drawing to installation, concert music, and critical writing, his “subtle… seductive, immersive” (Artforum) sound work has been characterized as “rigorously focused and full of detail” (e/i) and “dramatic, powerful, and at one with nature” (The Wire). His research interests investigate instrument design, visual representations of sound, the media history of the loudspeaker, and speculative acoustics.

The recipient of grants from Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Fund and Meet the Composer, his work has been presented internationally at venues such as The Whitney Museum, MoMA/PS1, Moving Image Art Fair, CONTEXT Art Miami, GRM, and STEIM. His concert work has been commissioned by ensembles ranging from the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and the International Contemporary Ensemble to So Percussion, Catch Guitar Quartet, and Clogs and is documented on Line, Sedimental, Notice, and Winds Measure recordings. Cluett has published book chapters for MIT Press and Rowman & Littlefield, and articles for the Leonardo Music Journal, TEMPO, and the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

Prior to Carnegie Mellon, Cluett was on the composition faculty in the Department of Music at Columbia University with affiliate faculty appointments with the Data Science Institute and the Center for Comparative Media. He served as Director of the Columbia University Computer Music Center from 2022-2026, Assistant Director from 2018-2022, and Assistant Director of the Sound Art MFA Program from 2018-2026. Cluett was Assistant Professor of Music Production and Co-Director of the Krame Center for Contemplative Practices and Mindful Living at Ramapo College of New Jersey and held a joint appointment as Assistant Professor of Visual Arts & Technology and Music & Technology at Stevens Institute of Technology where he was Director of the Sensory Computation/Experimental Narrative Environments (SCENE) Lab. From May 2017 to May 2026, Cluett served as Artist-in-Residence at Nokia Bell Labs where was active in research on robotics and multi-sensory communication.