Lucier, Alvin

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Lucier, Alvin (b Nashua, New Hampshire, 1931). Amer. composer. Choral dir., Brandeis Univ. 1962–70. Founded Sonci Arts Union 1966, elec. mus. performing group. Prof. at Wesleyan Univ. 1970–84 (head of dept. from 1979). Has worked mainly with elec. apparatus. In his Music for a Solo Performer (1965), 3 electrodes are attached to the performer's scalp picking up 10-cycle alpha brain waves. This signal is amplified and filtered, and directed to loudspeakers which activate sympathetic responses in perc. instrs. Various other unconventional sources of sound are used in his works.