Zachary James Watkins studied composition with Janice Giteck, Jarrad Powell, Robin Holcomb and Jovino Santos Neto at Cornish College. In 2006, Zachary received an MFA in Electronic Music and Recording Media from Mills College where he studied with Chris Brown, Fred Frith, Alvin Curran and Pauline Oliveros. Zachary has received commissions from Documenta 14, the Kronos Quartet, The Living Earth Ensemble, sfsound and the Seattle Chamber Players among others. His 2006 composition Suite for String Quartet was awarded the Paul Merritt Henry Prize for Composition and has subsequently been performed at the Labs 25th Anniversary Celebration, the Labor Sonor Series at Kule in Berlin Germany and in Seattle Wa, as part of the 2nd Annual Town Hall New Music Marathon featuring violist Eyvind Kang. Zachary has performed in numerous festivals across the United States, Mexico and Europe and his band Black Spirituals opened for pioneering Drone Metal band Earth during their 2015 European tour. In 2008, Zachary premiered a new multi-media work entitled Country Western as part of the Meridian Gallery’s Composers in Performance Series that received grants from the The American Music Center and The Foundation for Contemporary Arts. An excerpt of this piece is published on a compilation album entitled ”The Harmonic Series‚” along side Pauline Oliveros, Ellen Fullman, Theresa Wong Charles Curtis and Duane Pitre among others. Zachary recently completed Documentado / Undocumentado a multi media interactive book in collaboration with Guillermo Gómez Peña, Gustavo Vasquez, Jennifer Gonzalez and Felicia Rice. His sound art work entitled Third Floor::Designed Obsolescence, “spoke as a metaphor for the breakdown of the dream of technology and the myth of our society’s permanence,” review by Susan Noyes Platt in the Summer 05 issue of ARTLIES. Zachary releases music on the labels Sige, Cassauna, Confront (UK), The Tapeworm and Touch (UK). Novembre Magazine (DE), ITCH (ZA), Walrus Press and the New York Miniature Ensemble have published his writings and scores. Zachary has been an artist in resident at the Espy Foundation, Djerassi and the Headlands Center for The Arts.
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Luke Judd is a postpartum premortem artist based out of Oakland, CA.
As an A.D.D. only child, born and raised on a dead end rural road in California’s Gold Country, Luke learned to entertain himself at an early age. As a child he would often direct his own experience, focusing and unfocusing his eyes as he told stories in his head. Long before he would touch his first camera, Luke was framing and reframing the world. The act of play is still at the heart of his work. A self professed master of none, he tries to find the red thread between mediums and modalities, focused on the connection between rather than perfection of any given element.
Luke uses 2D animations on 3D surfaces to create depth rather than vice versa and works mostly in the medium of light, whether it’s capturing, creating or throwing it across space to best serve an environment or experience. His methods entice an extra sensory perception, providing a backdrop to memory to create fully immersive visual experiences.
Luke has worked with hundreds of music acts in his 10+ years in the Bay Area including Shannon and the Clams, The Coup, Go Dark, Two Gallants, Oakland Symphony, Sh8peshifter, Tune-yards and many more.