The Hiller Computer Music Studios of the UB Department of Music presents its annual spring Black Box concert of computer music, featuring the works of French composer and electronic music visionary Jean-Claude Risset, who passed away November 21, 2016.

Risset studied composition with Andre Jolivet at the Paris Conservatory, and in 1964 moved the USA to collaborate with Max Matthews at Bell Labs, where he developed some of the earliest pioneering computer music software and music. He later worked with John Chowning of Stanford University, Pierre Boulez at IRCAM, and was a member of the GRM in Paris. In addition he was a professor and director of research at the CNRS in Marseille, France.

Six of his computer music compositions, dating from 1968 to 1990 will be presented, including his electronic masterpiece Sud, from 1985. Risset, with his tireless curiosity and lifelong passion for exploring the internal qualities of sound, will be greatly missed.