Biography
A practice formed between composition, performance, sound, and technology.
Matías Homar is a composer, guitarist, sound designer, educator, and interactive instrument designer from Salta, Argentina, based in Western New York. His work brings together notated composition, improvisation, live electronics, spatial sound, installation, field recording, and custom-built technologies.
He holds a PhD in Music Composition from the University at Buffalo, where his doctoral work developed a cycle of pieces connecting Argentine and Latin American musical materials with transformation, electronic processing, and embodied performance. He is currently a Visiting Professor of Sound Studies in Alfred University’s Performing Arts Division.
His projects have been presented through festivals, residencies, universities, ensembles, and interdisciplinary programs in the United States, Europe, and Latin America. In 2024, the GEP Contraption received the MIDI Innovation Award in the Prototype/Hardware category. His wider practice includes collaborations with dancers and visual artists, accessibility-focused workshops, open-source instrument development, and community-centered approaches to music technology.
At a glance
- Current: Visiting Professor of Sound Studies, Alfred University
- Education: PhD in Music Composition, University at Buffalo
- Practice: Composition, performance, sound design, instrument building, teaching
- Origin: Salta, Argentina
- Based: Western New York
Artistic Practice
Sound is enacted through relationships.
The work is grounded in enactivism: composition emerges through the ongoing negotiation among bodies, instruments, devices, software, speakers, rooms, environments, and listeners.
01
Embodied composition
Gesture, interpretation, error, responsiveness, and improvisation function as compositional materials rather than additions to a fixed musical object.
02
Interactive instruments
Custom controllers, wearable interfaces, sensors, open hardware, and software mappings create new forms of physical and sonic agency.
03
Spatial listening
Speaker placement, acoustic behavior, field recording, movement, and location become interconnected compositional parameters.
04
Collaboration and access
Interdisciplinary collaboration, community participation, accessibility, and shared technical knowledge shape how projects are developed.
Teaching
Listening, making, experimentation, and shared inquiry.
Teaching connects critical listening with practical making. Students work across sound, composition, performance, technology, collaboration, and cultural context while developing their own artistic questions.
Academic teaching
At Alfred University, Matías teaches in Sound Studies and the Performing Arts, with courses and ensemble work that have included Music Theory, Sound Gathering, Songwriting and Composition, Class Guitar, and Pop Ensemble. His previous teaching at Rochester Institute of Technology included the history and technology of musical instruments, guitar ensemble, and applied lessons.
His classrooms combine analysis, experimentation, building, performance, and reflection. Technology is introduced not only as a production tool, but also as a way to examine embodiment, access, authorship, systems, and the social conditions of listening.
Workshops and community practice
Workshops with schools, universities, artists, and community participants use interactive instruments to create accessible points of entry into sound and technology. These activities emphasize exploration, collaboration, and adaptation to different bodies, abilities, and forms of participation.
Teaching areas
Curriculum Vitae
Selected appointments, education, and recognition.
Appointments
2024–present
Visiting Professor of Sound Studies, Alfred University
2022–2024
Visiting Assistant Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology
Education
PhD, Music Composition
University at Buffalo, 2022
Bachelor in Music — Composition
Universidad Nacional de La Plata, 2010
Music Professor
Universidad Nacional de La Plata, 2009
Selected recognition
MIDI Innovation Award, Prototype/Hardware Winner, 2024
Open Futures Residency, University of Limerick, 2024
Platinum Prize and Remarkable Creativity Special Prize, Carl Reinecke International Music Competition, 2025