Charlie Hooper-Williams

About

Charlie Hooper-Williams is a composer, pianist, and software developer working with real-time audiovisual systems and interactive tools. His practice sits between music, software, and live performance, combining custom-built code, hardware, and visual systems.

His work has been performed or exhibited at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, The Aspen Festival, Shanghai Expo, King’s Place Hall One (London), SXSW, CMJ, Cincinnati Conservatory, Northwestern University, TEDxAldeburgh, 44AD Artspace (Bath, UK), University of Cambridge, Gallerie Dynjandi (Bíldudalur, Iceland), and Studio XX (Montreal). His software has been featured as Apple’s App of the Day and in WIRED magazine’s top 100 apps.

Originally from the pine woods of northern Minnesota, he has been based in the UK since 2009 and is a resident of Bristol’s Pervasive Media Studio and The Studio at Palace Yard Mews (Bath).

Photo

Awards

  • 2024 MyWorld Fellowship
  • 2024 Project Grant, Arts Council England
  • 2024 PRS Foundation Early Career Promoters’ Fund
  • 2022 Creative Business Growth Fund, West England Combined Authority
  • 2021 CreaTech 100 Ones to Watch, UK Creative Industries Council
  • 2021 Do It Differently fund, Help Musicians UK
  • 2021 Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP), Arts Council England
  • 2021 Creative Freelance Fund, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
  • 2021 Recovery Fund, The Studio at Palace Yard Mews, Bath Spa University
  • 2019 Project Grant, Arts Council England
  • 2012 Rising Star award, Cambridge University’s Festival of Ideas
  • 2010 Honorary cultural award Ritari Hyvämielksi (Finland)
  • 2001 Shostakovich International Piano Competition, Prize for New Music
  • 2001 Northwestern University Concerto Competition, Winner
  • 1997 Kenosha Symphony Concerto Competition, Winner

Academia

  • University of Cambridge, Centre for Music & Science (MPhil, Distinction)
  • Columbia College (Chicago), Lecturer, MFA Music Composition for the Screen
  • Northwestern University, School of Music (Faculty)
  • Northwestern University, School of Music (BMus)

Talks

  • What if you could see music? | TEDxCorsham
  • How I see music using code | TEDxBath
  • Biomimetic Electronics | Computational Neuroscience Unit, University of Bristol
  • Never give up on quitting | TEDxWageningenUniversity
  • Biomimetic Electronics | Pervasive Media Studio (Bristol)
  • Public-key encryption explained | QTalks (Bath)
  • Si! Si! Si! How the leading tone creates desire in music | QTalks (Bath)
  • Our Music Reflects the Reality We Expect | QTalks (Bath)
  • Sing for the Win: A ludic, immersive approach to teaching musicality | musicLearningLive (Singapore)
  • Embodied Musical Gesture as a Game Controller | ICMPC/ESCOM
  • A Digital Game-Based Model for Learning Musicality | Anglia Ruskin (Cambridge)