EDUCATION & FELLOWSHIPS
One Beat Global Virtual Fellow 2024 awarded by U.S State Department, Found Sound Nation & Bang on a Can
Hertz Traveling Fellowship Award - UC Berkeley Department of Music, 2017-2019
University of California at Berkeley Berkeley, CA
--Bachelor of Arts in Music, 2017
Mannes Conservatory Pre College NY, New York, 2013.
AWARDS
David and Dana Munn Prize in Performing Arts, Berkeley 2017
Bernece Lyon Prize- Grant awarded by UC Berkeley, 2015
TEACHING
Private Studio Violin Teacher — in-person and virtual, NY, NM, 2020-current
New Mexico School for the Arts — strings teacher; substitute, 2022
Queen Bee Music School - violin teacher for folk fiddle youth camps, 2022
Ethno USA — organizer for global folk music festival/residency with Jeunesses Musicales Internationales, 2021
Santa Fe Youth Symphony — founded Elementary Strings Program for 30 youths in Taos, NM, 2019-2020
COMPOSING AND EXHIBITION WORK
Still Life no. 1
With designer Arella Hordyk
Dried flowers, fishing string, chicken wire, LED neon light, fake rock speakers
Created a floating still life using the contrived elements of water, earth, air, fire (light). Composed an artificial soundscape thunderstorm to accompany the still life.
One for a Cello One for a Goat, 2022 (Boaz and Zito), Taos Center for the Arts, New Mexico and Texas tour
With collaborator Eli Zito. Wrote, produced, recorded a 5 song EP focusing on folk forms and traditional americana songwriting. Original fiddle tune (Cure the Mourning) mixed Boaz’s Hungarian style folk music heritage with Mariachi style of his partner’s. Expanded the production to some electronic processing and layering of fiddle harmonies to play with and push traditional sounds while still tapping into deep and archetypal feeling.
Montrose Place and Lady Tristesse Singles 2022 (Boaz and Zito), Santa Fe, NM
With collaborator Eli Zito. Violin, guitar, piano, fiddle.
Chest Pieces, 2020 (online)
Deconstructed/reconstructed violin and portrait photography.
In collaboration with Agnes Artoonian and Rachel Rambaldi. Chest Pieces is an exploration into the form of the violin, Boaz's personal relationship to it and his exploration of changing trans body within that form.
The Blues and Other Attempts, 2017, Hertz Hall, Berkeley CA
A coordinated experiment in improvisation and the blues. The blues was Boaz’s motivation to learn jazz and folk music as the blues is the root of those two traditions in America and something he felt so deeply.. Boaz organized 8 musicians and 2 recording engineers to record a live session of a continuous and changing free improvisation based on traditional blues forms onto cassette tape (1 hour long). Some compositional mapping was written down beforehand but the recording was mostly from live direction and play.
Duet for Violin and Loop Pedal, 2017, CNMAT and Hertz Hall, Berkeley, CA
composed by Andrew Rahman, performed by Jack Boaz
Fragile Objects, 2016, Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Multimedia/New Media. Fragile Objects premiered at the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive on April 8, 2016 during the "Right Now" concert, as part of a performance with the Berkeley Nu Jazz Collective. The instrument was played by Jack Boaz and Andrew Rahman, with Zachariah Garn accompanying on drum kit.
"Fragile Objects" is a project created by Jack Boaz and Andrew Rahman (UC Berkeley Class of 2017, B.A in Music) using a laptop running Max/MSP, BCF2000, mixer, amplifier, contact microphone, iPad with Lemur app, and transducers connected to Speaker-Sculptures.
The basic goal of the instrument were to address questions of improvisation and interaction between computer and performers, and how the interconnectivity of performers on the same instrument can create a symbiotic relationship between performers and technology.
The sound is generated using a Bell/Bass Resonator and Additive Synthesizer in Max. These two sounds are the basis of expression of the instrument manifested by two different hand gestures on the iPad. The Resonator is triggered by tapping the iPad, creating a percussive sound and the Synth by a centroid between multiple fingers. The Lemur displays an X/Y coordinate system, X is pitch, Y controls the Synth’s vibrato length. The sliders on the BCF display the harmonic overtones of the Synth and the sound of their movement is picked up by the contact mic on the BCF. A “Shimmer” effect–created by Andrew Rahman–is applied to the contact mic, and is controlled by the knobs on the BCF. All sound is broadcast through the Speaker-Sculptures by a transducer attached to them. The two hanging speakers are in stereo with Left transmits the Synth and the Right transmits the Resonator. The free standing speaker plays all sounds in mono and the contact mic transmits through all of the sculptures. The basic goal of the instrument were to address questions of improvisation and interaction between computer and performers, and how the interconnectivity of performers on the same instrument can create a symbiotic relationship between performers and technology.
PERFORMANCE
Harwood Museum - Taos, NM with Radio Free Bassanda (Balkan) - 2023
Society Hall - Alamosa, CO with Radio Free Bassanda (Balkan) - 2023
AMP Concerts- Albuquerque, NM with Radio Free Bassanda (Balkan) - 2023
Boaz and Zito Duo at Taos Center for the Arts (with Big Richard) August 2022, October 2020
Boaz and Zito Duo PortalFest Santa Fe- August 2022
Boaz and Zito duo at Santa Fe Plaza Live (AMP Concerts) August 2022
Boaz and Zito March Tour 2022 - Amarillo TX, Silver City, NM, Albuquerque, NM.
LEAF Festival - Asheville, NC with Ethno USA Global Folk Orchestra - 2021
Harwood Museum Taos - solo violin and loop pedal- 2020
Dranouter Festival - Belgium with Ethno Global Orchestra- 2018
Lotus Temple India - New Delhi with Ethno India World Orchestra - 2018
Floating Castle Festival - Slovenia with Etno Histeria World Orchestra - 2018
Hertz Hall - Duet for Violin and Loop Pedal - Berkeley Premiere of experimental piece written by Andrew Rahman 2017
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive - with Berkeley Nu Jazz Collective 2016
Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT)- Improvised works Berkeley, CA 2016
Pacific Film Archive - Live improvised score of Maya Deren short films 2016
Worth Ryder Gallery - Violin and Video for Andrew Sungtaek Ingersoll Honors Art Practice Exhibit
Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Kate Hayes and Mathieu Barthlet) - San Jose, CA 2016
UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra European Tour (Bratislava, Budapest, Vienna)- 1st violinist 2015