Musarc

David Toop

David Toop with students at Field Studies 2015. Photo: Joseph Kohlmaier

David Toop is a composer/musician, author and curator based in London who has worked in many fields of music, writing and listening practice. He has recorded Yanomami shamanism in Amazonas, appeared on Top of the Pops, exhibited sound installations internationally, and performed with artists including John Zorn, Evan Parker, Bob Cobbing, Ivor Cutler, Akio Suzuki, Elaine Mitchener, Lore Lixenberg, Rie Nakajima and Max Eastley. His published books include Ocean of Sound,Haunted Weather, and Sinister Resonance. He has released eight solo albums, including Screen Ceremonies, Black Chamber and Sound Body, and as a theorist and critic has written for many publications. Exhibitions he has curated include Sonic Boom at the Hayward Gallery, London, Playing John Cage at Arnolfini, Bristol, and Blow Up at Flat-Time House, London. His opera – Star-shaped Biscuit – was performed in Aldeburgh in 2012 and he is currently writing Into the Maelstrom: Improvised Music and the Pursuit of Freedom. He is University of the Arts London Chair of Audio Culture and Improvisation.