Below are the positions up for election and their relevant candidates for SEAMUS in 2025. To vote, please go to this form.
Position descriptions are sourced from the SEAMUS By-Laws.
MEMBER AT LARGE for Outreach
Position Description
The Member-at-Large for Outreach, elected in odd years, encompasses more continuous and broader-themed outreach to the membership, including support for local activities. It requires interactions with several other Board positions, including the President, the Editor of Journal SEAMUS, the Diversity and Inclusion Board Appointee, the Director of Communications, and the VP for Projects and Programs.
Kerem Ergener
Statement
I am grateful for the opportunity to be considered for the role of Member-at-Large for Outreach. Over the years, being part of SEAMUS has shown me the importance of a community in such a small field. I want to serve as much as possible for an organization that values artistic dialogue and growth. The role requires someone outgoing and active in the field who can develop new ideas to broaden the field, and I am an ideal fit for such a position.
My primary goal as Member-at-Large for Outreach is to help local and nationwide initiatives to extend the reach of electroacoustic music nationwide. My objective has always been democratizing electronic music. This can be achieved by expanding its reach and fostering an active community of musicians and listeners. Collaboration among artists in our field is essential for generating new concepts and research. Throughout my career, I have recognized the significance of collective action in every endeavor I undertake. I’ve been part of the electroacoustic music communities and am a member-at-large of the NIME ethics committee. Other initiatives include my record label, which aims to publish and preserve avant-garde works, collaborations with Algoraves, and the concerts I organized worldwide.
This position seeks an individual who will effectively engage with multiple board positions across various organizations and projects to ensure seamless execution. I firmly believe that my inclusion in this role will not only facilitate the smooth continuation of existing plans but also help to provide an opportunity to expand our reach to a broader range of academics and researchers within the field who were not generally considered as part of our electroacoustic music world spanning different areas of expertise who collaborate in the same realm without realizing their contributions within departments such as the arts, acoustics, physics, and architecture. My diverse interests in music, arts, architecture, and engineering will give me an open mindset to identify potential outreach opportunities and enable me to implement them in a way that benefits the community.
I am dedicated to serving as the Member-at-Large for Outreach for SEAMUS. Through collaboration, various initiatives, and extension of presence in both academic and broader communities, I hope to help SEAMUS to be more inclusive and accessible for everyone who is working in electroacoustic music, especially for underrepresented groups and newcomers. I appreciate your consideration.
Biography
Kerem Ergener is an electronic music composer and multimedia artist based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He received his undergraduate degree at Bahçeşehir University’s Mechatronics Engineering Department, where he helped establish the BAU Stanford Robotics Research Project Laboratory while researching advanced robotic applications. Then, he continued his graduate education at Istanbul Technical University MIAM and received his Master of Arts in Sonic Arts. Between 2019-2022, he lived in Thailand, where he lectured at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang’s Institute of Science, Music, and Engineering. He studied electronic music and composition under Reuben de Lautour, Jeremy Woodruff, Brian Raphael Nabors, Jesse Allison, and Stephen David Beck. His artistic output mainly focuses on coding-based music making, industrial music and multimedia installation using light, fog, and space. He founded the label Le Horla Records, aiming to bring out unheard avant-garde and experimental sound to listeners in 2016. He has been part of many compilations and released his solo work under his name and the synonym Le Horla. His works have been performed internationally in concerts and conferences, including Electric LaTex, SEAMUS, and ICMC. He is a Ph.D. candidate in Experimental Music and Digital Media and with a minor in Architecture at Louisiana State University.
Ralph Lewis
Statement
During the last two years I have served as SEAMUS’s Member-At-Large for Outreach and I am running again to continue the efforts that the board and I have made during this term.
I want to emphasize three reasons for why I am so passionate about serving in this role and want to continue performing it on your behalf. The first reason is to continue to build on SEAMUS’s efforts to connect with and empower musicians making electro-acoustic music. Some outcomes I have helped to foster in collaboration with board members include the return of the CREATE Grants, the reassembly of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and actively supporting careful choice-making to keep SEAMUS financially solvent. I was also the first point of contact to begin developing what has become our National Conference at Purdue University this year, which occurred through conversations with members about the perpetual need for conference hosts.
The second reason is to keep emphasizing the value of defining this role of Member-At-Large for Outreach as one where mutual collaboration through community engagement is the norm, rather than a one-sided missionary-like outreach. We can invest our time and spirit to create mutually beneficial situations that live up to the goals we have for a more equitable, inclusive musical experience for many different people. This is something that we are still striving for, with much of my service work so far being focused on improving the smaller operational aspects that add up to a SEAMUS that can maintain and build on its role as a reliable community stakeholder for years to come. Everyone prospers when SEAMUS’s applications are easy to fill out, its events are something people can anticipate, plan for, and afford, and its general purpose and opportunities to begin participating feel obvious and safe for newcomers.
Reaffirming our operational values as an organization is part of my third reason for running: to bring a pro-active and patient approach to building community networks. Part of this role is to continue to seek out innovation and new ways for creative musicians in and outside of SEAMUS to interact, but this requires a consistent sense of SEAMUS knowing its members and what it brings to collaborations. For example, one operational blindspot I have worked to solve has been in developing a clearer, cleaner membership database. By better knowing who our members are, we can more meaningfully collaborate with you and work alongside you in your communities, making SEAMUS a trusted ally for people both within and outside of its current membership.
As I wrote when I ran for this role two years ago, I understand that this kind of work will be a long journey of many, sometimes imperfect, steps. While some steps have taken longer than expected, I am proud of the overall progress SEAMUS has accomplished throughout the last two years and look forward to being able to build deeper community engagement offerings that serve creative electro-acoustic musicians throughout the United States.
Biography
Dr. Ralph Lewis is a composer and music theorist who currently serves as Adjunct Instructor of Music Composition and Music Theory at Millikin University. His compositions seek meeting points between sonorous music and arresting noise, alternative tunings and timbre, and the roles of performer and audience. Lewis’s music has been presented at festivals and conferences including ACMC and Tenor Conference, Convergence, and Sonic Cartography, Pärnu Days of Contemporary Music Festival, ICMC/ISSTA, the Orpheus Institute’s Performer Composer Conference, as well as New Music Gathering, Verdant Vibes, Thirsty Ears Festival, SEAMUS National Conference, Boston Microtonal Society, SCI National Conference, College Music Society National Conference, Electronic Music Midwest, MOXsonic, N_SEME, CHIMEFest, Electroacoustic Barn Dance, and the Music for People and Thingamajigs Festival.
During the 2020-2021 academic year, Lewis served as Composer-in-Residence for the Oberlin Arts and Sciences Orchestra. He has also been honored with artist residencies at Banff Art Centre, Westben, and WGXC Wave Farm. In 2023, he was elected as the SEAMUS’s Member At Large for Outreach. He graduated from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2021, receiving a DMA in Music Composition. He founded All Score Urbana in 2016 and continues to lead its free-to-the-public composition engagement workshops.
Alexandria Smith
Statement
I am excited to submit my candidacy for the Member-At-Large position on the SEAMUS board. Thank you for taking your time to read this and for your consideration. Primarily a performer/composer/improvisor/instrument designer, I often wonder whether there was space for my work within the organization. I was inspired Dr. Stephen Beck’s call for expanding the types of work that should be accepted into SEAMUS inspired me to apply and participate when accepted. As a member and presenter, I have gotten to experience the wonderful research and music being presented and the efforts the organization have been making to expand the diversity of works and membership. The Rhizome SEAMUS event at LSU was exciting and generative. There were instrument designers for the NIME call, improvisors, and composers. This led to more generative and expansive conversations about electroacoustic music/practices and how we can continue to build off these networks of knowledge and artistry. I would like to be an advocate for continuing this stance and sharing the diverse range of works and perspectives from this community.
The Member-at-Large for outreach affords an excellent opportunity to coordinate with other organizations that are running electroacoustic conferences/festivals, continue to advocate for expanding diversity of works and membership, and keep on advocating for what this organization does really well: getting great artists and researchers together and advocating for electroacoustic music. I will approach this position as the opportunity for community building and seeing what SEAMUS can learn from other successful conferences and organizations such as MoxSonic, NIME, ICMC, and various electronic and electroacoustic festivals that take place all over the US. I will also work closely with the D&I Board on how we can make SEAMUS a space that is welcoming for all members and help members navigate this challenging time. It is crucial that we have a space to share strategies and support our colleagues.
As a member at large, I will look forward to learning more about how SEAMUS coordinates amongst members, other board and administrated positions- listening to what they are working towards while pursuing more active community engagement and seeing who we are not reaching and who is not being heard. I will approach this position from the stance of a listener, bringing forward what I know has kept some people from applying or participating in the past and seeing who we can encourage to apply in the future. As I stated above, a little encouragement and recognition can go a long way.
Alongside working with and supporting current events and processes at SEAMUS, I will reach out to develop new opportunities to serve members. Some goals include connecting composers with improvisors to make hybrid pieces, workshops on instrument design, coordinating workshops and/or conversations about SEAMUS at University and community programs, developing student and travel funds, sharing educational resources/syllabi and/or learning modules, and working on ways to promote submissions and readership of Journal SEAMUS. Most importantly, building and advocating for community-based resources and listening.
Biography
Praised by The New York Times for her “appealingly melancholic sound” and “entertaining array of distortion effects,” Alexandria Smith is a multimedia artist, audio engineer, trumpeter, and scholar who enjoys working at the intersection of all these disciplines. Her creative practice and research interests focus on building, designing, theorizing, and performing with interactive systems and translating embodied, biological data into interactive sonic and visual environments. She also works on ecological musicking and composes interactive systems and musical compositions. Her research has been presented at AES, ICMC, AMS, SEAMUS, the Guelph Jazz Colloquium, MoxSonic, and more.
Alexandria Smith is an active performer/composer in New York City, New Orleans, and Atlanta. As an improviser/multi-media artist, Smith has had a residency at the Stone NYC and feature recitals on the Future of New Trumpet (FONT) Festival West, and the VI Semana Internacional de Improvisación in Ensenada, Baja California. Alexandria is currently an Assistant Professor of Music at the Georgia Institute of Technology where she leads the IMPACT lab.
Mickie Wadsworth
Statement
As a dedicated member of SEAMUS, I have had the privilege of attending both national and regional conferences, and I am deeply committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment for all members. My goal as a general body member aligns with the objectives I would pursue in this position: to create a supportive community that enables growth and connection.
If elected, I would focus on the following initiatives to support this mission:
- Revitalize the SEAMUS Discord and Add More Channels
One of the main improvements I would like to implement is the addition of a channel dedicated to members looking to share or pool resources for attending Electro-Acoustic events across the U.S. Many composers face barriers such as limited funding or age restrictions when trying to attend festivals. If they don’t already know others attending, it can be difficult to find opportunities to collaborate or share resources. This channel would serve as a space to connect composers, helping them overcome logistical obstacles and build a stronger sense of community. These connections also benefit SEAMUS, as the more composers attend and engage in different festivals, the more exposure, knowledge, and networking they bring to the national conference.
- Increase Student Engagement
I would work to increase student involvement in SEAMUS by highlighting the benefits of membership, such as access to additional resources and opportunities. This might involve reaching out to students at programs to raise awareness of SEAMUS, providing information about how they can get involved, and showing them the value of being part of the organization.
- Poll General Members for Ideas and Feedback
Change begins with the individual, and it is important that all members feel empowered to contribute their ideas. I propose regularly polling SEAMUS members to gather feedback on issues, ideas, and potential improvements for the organization. I would serve as a voice for the membership, amplifying their needs and aspirations to the board and working collaboratively to implement solutions.
In addition to these goals, I am prepared to assist the board in any way needed. During my time in college, I served in various student organizations where I created strong communication skills, responsibility, and trust among peers. Regardless of who is elected, I will continue to advocate for change at the individual level, and I hope you will join me in doing the same. Thank you for considering my nomination for this position. I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to SEAMUS in this capacity.
Biography
Mickie Wadsworth is a composer and conductor based in Upstate New York. Much of their work focuses on the human experience, and the complexity of our emotions. As a musician, they are dedicated to creating a welcoming community that celebrates new music from diverse voices. Their work has been featured at a variety of conferences and festivals including SEAMUS, EMM, NYCEMF, SCI National, SCI Region V, Research on Contemporary Composition, SheScores, Manchester New Music Festival, Ball State New Music Festival, Napoleon Electronic Media Festival, Boneyfiddle Fringe Festival, SPLICE Festival, UNK New Music Festival, CWU New Music Festival, PEAK New Music Milwaukee, Art Song Lab, N.E.O. Voice Festival, and SPLICE Institute.
Their work “Lake Song,” a collaboration with poet Angela Rebrec written for Art Song Lab 2020 can be found in the NewMusicShelf Anthology of New Music: Trans & Non-binary Voices Vol. 1. Outside of being a musician, they spend much of their time hiking in the Adirondacks and hanging out with their cat Norma. They received their M.M. in Composition and their M.M. in Conducting (Wind Track) from Ohio University, and their B.M. in Music Composition from SUNY Fredonia.
SECRETARY
Position Description
The Secretary is responsible for creating minutes from Board meetings, distributing and archiving those minutes, and archiving general Board actions and voted decisions that occur via Internet conversation. Other responsibilities include organizing and facilitating Board elections via correspondence with the SEAMUS membership, as well as managing the selection of SEAMUS Award recipients by the Board. The Secretary will be one of three signatories on the SEAMUS bank account.
Patrick Reed
Statement
I hope to run and serve as secretary to provide support and give back to this organization. I strongly believe in looking ahead and ensuring that we remain open and diverse, both in the people who make up our community and the wide range of musical styles we embrace. If elected, I will thoroughly document all board activities and meeting minutes, keeping them accessible for everyone to read, and work with fellow board members to oversee fair and transparent elections. I am committed to making sure all voices are heard and recorded, and I plan to collaborate closely with the rest of the board to honor the wishes and goals of our members as we move into the future. In addition, I intend to find new ways to reach both students and non-students interested in creating electronic music, regardless of style, by exploring opportunities for learning, growth, and community building. Through these efforts, I hope to help SEAMUS continue evolving in ways that include, support, and inspire all who share our passion for electronic music. Thank you for your consideration, and I appreciate your support in helping me serve as Secretary.
Biography
Patrick Reed, a composer and educator, aims to share contemporary music with people of all ages. His recent focus has been on creating audiovisual music and developing immersive installations and environments that blend electronic music, visual art, and interactivity between performers and audience members. Reed’s music encompasses a diverse range of styles, from solo compositions to large ensemble works and beginner-friendly pieces for young band ensembles. His compositions have been showcased at prestigious events such as the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), Electronic Music Midwest, the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, SEAMUS, NSEME, and the Society of Composers’ national and regional conferences.
Reed is a recent PhD. graduate in music composition at the University of North Texas, where he studied with Jon Nelson, Andrew May, and Panayiotis Kokoras. Reed earned his Master in Music in composition at Bowling Green State University, he studied with Elainie Lillios, Christopher Dietz, and Mikel Kuehn. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition and Music Education from Texas Tech University, where he studied composition with Peter Fischer and Mei-Fang Lin.
TREASURER
Position Description
The Treasurer is responsible for all fiscal transactions related to SEAMUS. This includes filing taxes, overseeing the credit card payments for monthly automatic fees, maintaining bank relations, depositing and collecting membership dues (in conjunction with the Director of Technical Development), distributing payments in a timely way for SEAMUS-related expenses and member reimbursements, and producing an annual report every spring on the financial status of the society, to be distributed to the Board.
The Treasurer will be one of three signatories on the SEAMUS account, along with the President and the Secretary.
Heather Mease
Statement
I have a decade of experience working in operational roles within arts organizations including the Tempesta di Mare: Baroque Orchestra of Philadelphia, Bowerbird (Philadelphia), The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative (Charlottesville), the Charlottesville Mural Project, and various higher education institutions. My board term as Treasurer of SEAMUS began in 2023. Since then, I have worked with the board to stabilize finances and increase funding for programs that benefit our fabulous members. I’m committed to making sure our organization meets the needs of the membership and continues to support an ever growing and transforming community of electro-acoustic musicians.
Bio
In addition to typical SEAMUS member activities such as composing/performing/researching wacky electroacoustic music, Heather Mease also works in the non-profit arts sector in various directorial and administrative roles. Currently, Heather is Lecturer of Music Production at the University of Southampton.
VP of PROGRAMS and PROJECTS
Position Description
The VP for Programs and Projects is responsible for the development, implementation, and integration of both short- and long-term initiatives designed to benefit SEAMUS members. These initiatives aim to enhance the organization’s culture and may encompass activities such as concerts, broadcasts, compilation projects, webinars, and resource channels related to electroacoustic music. Programs are ongoing efforts, while projects represent unique, one-time opportunities or events. Examples of recent SEAMUS programs include the CREATE grants and webinars.
Leah Reid
Statement
I am a composer of acoustic, electronic, and electroacoustic music, deeply committed to interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. My work integrates music perception and cognition, electronics, literature, linguistics, and the visual arts, reflecting a broad and inclusive artistic vision. As an active member of the electroacoustic community—both in the U.S. and internationally—I am dedicated to fostering vibrant, supportive, and forward-thinking spaces for artists, scholars, and practitioners.
With extensive experience serving on boards, organizing conferences, festivals, and concerts, and adjudicating competitions, I have developed a strong foundation in arts leadership and community engagement. I am particularly passionate about expanding opportunities for women and underrepresented groups in music and the arts. I have had the privilege of co-hosting SEAMUS 2020 with Ted Coffey, serving as a board member and Vice President of the International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM) for nearly four years, and working as the Artistic Director for the Boston New Music Initiative (BNMI). Over the past two years, I have also served as SEAMUS’ Vice President for Projects and Programs. In this role, I reinstated the CREATE Grants program, launched a webinar series, and worked collaboratively to strengthen the organization’s initiatives and overall well-being.
If re-elected, I look forward to continuing this work by developing and expanding meaningful programs that directly benefit SEAMUS members. My goal is to ensure that our community remains dynamic, inclusive, and well-supported, fostering both creative and professional growth. It would be an honor to continue serving and advocating for our members as we shape the future of SEAMUS together.
Bio
Leah Reid is a composer, sound artist, researcher, and educator whose work spans opera, chamber, and vocal music to acousmatic, electroacoustic, and interactive sound installations. Her research focuses on the perception, modeling, and compositional applications of timbre.
A 2022 Guggenheim Fellow, Reid has received numerous awards, including the American Prize, first prizes in the International “New Vision” Composition Competition, KLANG! International Electroacoustic Composition Competition, Musicworks’ Electronic Music Competition, Sound of the Year’s Composed with Sound Award, and IAWM’s Pauline Oliveros Award.
She has collaborated with and received commissions from ensembles such as Accordant Commons, Blow Up Percussion, Concavo & Convesso, Ensemble Móbile, Guerilla Opera, the Jack Quartet, McGill’s Contemporary Music Ensemble, Neave Trio, Sound Gear, Talea, and Yarn/Wire. Her works have been featured at leading festivals and venues worldwide, including Aveiro_Síntese (Portugal), BEAST FEaST (England), Espacios Sonoros (Argentina), EviMus (Germany), ICMC (USA, Ireland & Chile), IRCAM’s ManiFeste (France), LA Philharmonic’s Noon to Midnight (USA), NYCEMF (USA), SF Tape Music Festival (USA), Série de Música de Câmara (Brazil), SMC Conference (Germany), Tilde New Music Festival (Australia), TIES (Canada), and WOCMAT (Taiwan), among others.
She is currently an Assistant Professor of Music Composition and Computer Technologies at the University of Virginia. www.leahreid.com