John MacLeod Chowning was born 22 August 1934 in Salem, New Jersey. He studied violin and percussion in Wilmington, Delaware. From 1952 to 1955, he served in the military, studying music in the Navy School of Music. In 1959, he earned his bachelors degree in music at the University of Wittenberg in Springfield, Ohio. From 1959 to 1962, he studied composition and theory in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. Upon returning to the United States, Chowning completed his studies at Stanford University, earning a Master of Arts in 1964 and a doctorate of of musical arts in 1966.

He worked as teaching assistant in the department of music at Stanford from 1966 to 1972, as an assistant professor from 1975 to 1979, and as a professor from 1979 to 1996. In 1975, he helped to found the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), which would play an active role in the founding of IRCAM, and with which IRCAM has maintained close ties. John Chowning directed the CCRMA until his retirement in 1996 – at which point he received the title of professor emeritus.

Chowning’s compositions cannot be considered separately from this research on the spatial aspects of acoustics (location and movement) and the simulation of these, which he began studying in 1964 using Max Mathews’ Music IV software. In 1967, Chowning discovered a practical way to synthesize dynamic audio spectra - which are crucial for creating the illusion of sound in space - without the use of additive synthesis techniques. In 1975, he was granted a patent for audio synthesis using frequency modulation (which would notably be used by Yamaha in the design of its DX7 synthesizer).

Chowning’s first compositions, Sabelithe (1971), Turenas (1972), and Stria (1977), are musical reflections of his research interests and technical discoveries. Phonē (1981), which was the fruit of a collaboration with IRCAM, expanded frequency modulation synthesis to the singing voice. Voices (2005), for soprano and computer, employs techniques Chowning developed over the course of his career and uses the Max/MSP language to react to the singer’s voice in real time.

Awards and Honors

• IBM Graduate Fellowship, 1964-1965
• Stanford Wilson Fellowship, 1965-1966
• National Endowment for the Arts, Fellowship Grant, 1973
• DAAD Guest Artist in Berlin (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst), 1974-1975
• Commission from the IRCAM (Paris) 1977 for Stria
• Guest composer at the IRCAM (Paris) 1978-1979
• Commission from the IRCAM (Paris) 1981 for Phonē
• Honored Composer, International Computer Music Conference, Rochester, New York, 1983
• Guest composer at the IRCAM (Paris), 1985
• Yamaha International Corporation’s “Man of the Year” (Los Angeles), 1986
• Elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 1988
• Docteur honoris causa, University of Wittenberg, 1990
• Osgood Hooker Professorship in Fine Arts, Stanford University, 1992
• Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres, French Ministry of Culture, 1995
• Docteur honoris causa, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, 2002
• Commission from the Groupe de recherches musicales (Paris), 2004, for Voices
• Docteur honoris causa, Queen’s University, Belfast, 2010