Affiliate, Department of Art
H. Cecilia Suhr
Education and Background
- Ph.D., Media Studies, Rutgers University
- M.A., Media Ecology, New York University
- B.A., English, Minor in Music, James Madison University
- Certificate of Completion in Audio-Visual Practices at CCRMA, Stanford University
Cecilia Suhr is an award-winning intermedia artist and researcher, multi-instrumentalist (violin/cello/voice/piano/bamboo flute), multimedia (audio-visual) composer, painter, author, and improviser. Working at the intersection between analog and digital technology/interactive media, sound and vision, theory and practice, critique, and creation, she is interested in experimenting with a wide spectrum of media to create synergetic and divergent aesthetic expressions and experiences.
Her creative work has been featured nationally and internationally at the New York City Electro-Acoustic Festival (NYCEMF), International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), The Society of Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS), Society of Composers (SCI), Electronic Music Midwest Festival (EMM), Australasian Computer Music Conference (ACMC), Mantis Festival, International Multimedia Arts Festival, New Music Gathering, Turn Up Festival, Splice Festival, Hot Air Music Festival, Moxonic Festival, Beast Feast, Irish Sound, Science & Technology Association, Ammerman Center Biennial Symposium, Performing Media Arts Festival, Festival of Contemporary Art Music, Oh My Ear Festival, iDMAa, Audio Mostly Conference, Tenor Conference, New Music on the Bayou Festival, ACM International Conference on Multimedia, Harvard University, Yale University, International Conference/Festival of Music, Technology & Ideas, Music Diaries Festival, Klingt Gut International Symposium on Sonic Art and Spatial Audio, CICA Museum, IANG Gallery, Pensacola Museum of Art, Outside the Box Biennial, Artech: International Conference on Digital and Interactive Arts, National Associations of Composers, ELO Conference and Media Arts Festival, among many others.
As a researcher, she is the author of “Social Media and Music: The Digital Field of Cultural Production” (2012, Peter Lang Press) and “Evaluation and Credentialing in Digital Music Communities” (MIT Press, 2014). She also served as an editor and contributing author to “Online Evaluation of Creative Arts” (Routledge Press, 2014). Her articles have appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as the International Journal of Art, Culture, Design, and Technology, Critical Arts, New Media and Society, International Journal of the Humanities, International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, Rhizomes: Cultural Studies in Emerging Knowledge, ACM conference proceedings, etc.
Awards and Honor
- The American Prize 2023, “Virtual Performance” category (community div.), “Honorable Mention.”
- 2023 Best of Competition Winner in Interactive Multimedia Emerging Media and Technologies, The Broadcast Education Association, Festival of Media Arts
- Silver Medal Winner 2023 (original composition /solo violin improvisation), International Cambridge Music Competition
- Second Prize Winner (no first prize given) in Violin Performance/Original Composition, American International Music Competition, Cleveland, 2023
- Bronze Medal Winner, 2022 (contemporary classical music genre), Global Music Awards
- Finalist, MATA (Music at the Anthology) 2023 Festival, New York, New York
- Winner of the 2022 Pauline Oliveros Prize from the 41st Search for New Music Competition by the International Alliance for Women in Music
- Selected for 2022 Asia Culture Center International Residency Award with Grant support, Gwangju, Korea (had to decline due to university policy)
- 2021 Faculty Achievement in Scholarship and Artistic Distinction Award, 黑料社区 Regional. OH.
- Honorable Mention in Mixed Media Category, New York City International Fine Art Contest held by Gateway Art Center NYC, Dec. 2016
- People’s Choice Award, Juried Exhibition, Pop Revolution Gallery, Mason, OH, March 2015.
- An International Juried Fine Arts Exhibition, NY Realism, Jury, Michael Prettyman, curator, Vasily Zolottsev, Saint Michael Special Achievement Medal, NY, NY Nov. 2013
- Special Recognition Award, International Abstracts Art Competition, Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery, Digital Art, “Other Art,” June 2012.
- MacArthur Foundation, Digital Media and Learning Research Award, 2012, total award amount: $67,801