Ulrich Krieger - Composer, Performer, Improvisor, Innovator

While Ulrich Krieger may not be a household name, he's a star in the world of experimental music. By day, he is a mild mannered professor at the California Institute for the Arts, teaching composition and sax. When he's not teaching, he works with luminaries like Lou Reed, Lee Ranaldo, LaMonte Young, Christian Marclay, Ensemble Modern, the Berliner Philharmoniker, and the Soldier String Quartet.In fact, the reason why I got an opportunity to speak with Ulrich is that, starting this Friday, music he helped create is being featured in an immersive multi-channel audio installation at the University Art Museum. The installation is titled, Lou Reed - Metal Machine Trio: The Creation of the Universe. Krieger's relationship with Reed goes back decades, to when he began the unlikely task of notating Reed's 1975 recording, Metal Machine Music, for a performance ensemble using traditional Western instruments. Reed himself was, at first, incredulous. Still, after hearing a performance demo, Reed saw this as a genuine opportunity to transform his original studio creation into something performable. In this interview, Krieger speaks about many aspects of his work.