Martha Mooke: Electro-Acoustic Violist, Producer, Composer and Educator

Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

Martha Mooke is a pioneer in the field of the electric five string viola and transcends boundaries as a performer and composer. This episode features insights, stories and music, including from the beautiful album by Carla Patullo So She Howls which just won the GRAMMY® Award for “Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album.” as well as from several of Martha’s solo and collaborative albums. You’ll hear about the unique multi-style string program she’s helped launch at New Jersey City University, and about many of her mentors and collaborators from David Bowie to Tenzin Choegyal to Laurie Anderson to Jean-Luc Ponty. Martha is passionate about the breadth and diversity needed in music education for the 21st century, and it was a joy and an inspiration for me to be able to hear about the arc of her multi-faceted career so far.

Like all my episodes, you can also watch this on my YouTube channel or listen to the podcast on all the podcast platforms, and I’ve also linked the transcript to my website: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/martha-mooke

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Martha Mooke Website: https://www.marthamooke.com/

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photo of Martha Mooke: Ebru Yildiz

The podcast theme music was commissioned from composer Nick Kold, and you can use the timestamps to navigate the episode:

Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(02:59) electric viola demo with explanation of gear and effects Edmar Castaneda

(09:01) Martha’s creative process

(13:41) clip from Ice 4 from No Ordinary Window

(15:40) Martha’s creative process

(18:42) Multi-Style Strings program New Jersey City University

(35:29) Carla Patullo So She Howls

(38:31) Machine Dreams from Carla Patullo So She Howls

(43:15) Carla Patullo album concert, vocal group Tonality

(43:51) please support this independent podcast!

(44:29) Thru the Walls, Scorchio quartet, Tibet House benefit concerts, Tony Visconti, David Bowie, Philip Glass

(01:01:17) Tenzin Choegyal with clip from Sutras of the Heart

(01:03:50) meditation practice

(01:05:46) different types of electric violins and violas, collaborations with Yamaha

(01:12:17) strings education outreach project in Jamaica

(01:17:18) album Buzz, Metachrosis electronic music production using insect sounds with audio clip, Linsey Pollak, sound design

(01:24:46) Jean-Luc Ponty

(01:33:57) clip from Omotion from No Ordinary Window

(01:34:53) Laurie Anderson

(01:39:09) Martha’s perspectives on her career