[Editor's note: We thank Bob Gluck, a former student and close associate of Joel Chadabe, for writing this obituary.]
Joel Chadabe (12 December 1938–2 May 2021) was a pioneering composer, educator, historian, and organizational catalyst in the field of electronic music. His life's work reflected a commitment to aligning musical technologies with the conceptual paradigms of our time. In his book Electric Sound: The Past and Promise of Electronic Music, Chadabe (1997, p. viii) wrote: “the electronic musical instrument in its myriad forms … may well turn out to be the most beneficial to humans and the most enjoyable, rewarding, and expressive instrument that has ever existed.”
Born and raised in Bronx, New York, Chadabe graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1959. He found a mentor and, eventually, friend in Elliott Carter, with whom he studied from 1958–1964 at the Aspen School...