Marco Oppedisano (born November 20, 1971, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American guitarist and composer whose compositions focus on the innovative use of electric guitar in the genre of electroacoustic music. His musique concrète/acousmatic music compositions have utilized multitrack recording and extended performance techniques for electric guitar, nylon string guitar and electric bass. In addition to musique concrète, compositions by Oppedisano also consist of "live" electric guitar in combination with a fixed playback of various electronic, acoustic (specifically female voice courtesy of Kimberly Fiedelman) and sampled sounds.

Marco Oppedisano
Background information
Born (1971-11-20) November 20, 1971 (age 53)
OriginBrooklyn, New York, United States
GenresExperimental music, electronic music, Electroacoustic music acousmatic music
Occupation(s)Musician, Guitarist, Composer, Instructor
InstrumentGuitar
Years active1992 - Present
LabelsOKS Recordings of North America (defunct), Bridge Records, Inc., Spectropol Records, Mutable Music, Capstone Records, Tzadik Records, EM Records (Japan) Clean Feed Records 577 Records)
Website[1]

Oppedisano has also composed works for solo classical guitar, solo electric guitar and mixed ensemble.

Biography

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Oppedisano began playing guitar at the age of 12 and was primarily a rock guitarist before entering studies at the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College. After two years of classical guitar study at Brooklyn College, he completed composition studies there with Tania León, Charles Dodge, Noah Creshevsky (Hyperrealism (music)) and George Brunner.

Oppedisano completed graduate studies at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College obtaining his master's degree in Music Composition. There he studied with Henry Weinberg and Thea Musgrave. Oppedisano is also a certified New York State P-12 Music teacher.

From 1999-2003, as a member of the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College Electroacoustic Ensemble, Oppedisano worked at the Brooklyn College Center for Computer Music (BC-CCM) to composeelectroacoustic music focusing on sounds derived only from electric guitar and electric bass. From 2003–present, Oppedisano has exclusively worked out of his home recording studio in Queens, NY. He is a certified NYS music teacher and was also employed as an adjunct professor at the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College.

Since 2002, he has also had ensemble works performed by the New York City Guitar Orchestra, Quarto Ensamble (Chile), Esart Quartet, Fireworks Ensemble, Glass Farm Ensemble, Brooklyn College Percussion Ensemble (directed by Morris Lang), Zyryab Guitar Quartet and solo guitar compositions performed by Kevin R. Gallagher and Oren Fader. As a guitarist he has performed in compositions by notable composers/guitarists, Nick Didkovsky and Glenn Branca.

Oppedisano's electroacoustic music with guitars has been used in film and was included in UK feature film "Besides These Walls" (2017), directed by Jules Bishop. "Besides These Walls" won Best Actor and Best Narrative Feature at the 2018 Queens World Film Festival.[1] Oppedisano's music was also use in the short film, Dead Man Rides Subway by Don Cato. Dead Man Rides Subway was premiered in March 2012 at The Queens World Film Festival and was the Grand Prize Winner at the Roxy Underground Film Festival in New York City in 2018.[2]

Oppedisano presently lives in Forest Hills, Queens with his wife Kimberly Fiedelman and daughter, Jillian Maisie Oppedisano (born in July 2010).

Discography

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Selected contributions

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Dedications

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Publications

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  • La chitarra elettrica nella musica da concerto: La storia, gli autori, i capolavori (Italian Edition) (October 2019 - Arcana - ISBN 978-8862316996) by Sergio Sorrentino
  • Visionary Guitars: Chatting With Guitarists (Andrea Aguzzi, March 2016 - ISBN 978-1326586935) by Andrea Aguzzi
  • State of The Axe: Guitar Masters in Photographs and Words (Museum Fine Arts Houston, October 2008 - ISBN 978-0300142112) by Ralph Gibson

Film music

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Selected interviews and reviews

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References

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