Bio

Qiujiang Levi Lu/卢秋江 (they/them) is a Beijing-born, NYC-based performance artist, vocalist, experimental improviser, composer, and lecturer in music at University of Pennsylvania.

For their solo performance art practice, Lu designs Max/MSP-based electroacoustic feedback systems with cyborg-like body augmentations inspired by Objectophilia/animism, which include special microphones and speakers placed within bodily orifices, augmented amplified laptop, and a custom-mapped flight joystick controller. Their resulting performances consist of choreographed, ritualistic improvisations that build on ancient Chinese drumming traditions and explore body dysmorphia, sexuality, spirituality, and mortality, linking together sound, movement, and violence in divine ceremony.

As a collaborative musician/improviser, Lu makes up half of the Chinese-American experimental electronic act Warp Duo with fellow improviser and violinist Scott Li, which fuses deeply emotional and melodic music with maximalist sound design. Lu has also performed extensively across the country with artists such as Ka Baird, Camilo Ángeles, Zoh Amba, Laura Cocks, Dana Jessen, Dave Ballou, Devin Grey, Drew Wesely, Manuel Perez III, Adam Kantz, Julian Pujols Quall, etc.

As a composer, Lu writes instructed improvisation pieces for acoustic and electronic performers and improvisers. Lu’s commissioned works often take a meta, unorthodox approach to music technology, exploring human-machine relationships, audio-visual interactivity, mind-body connection, and the phenomenology of musical performance. Previous commissions have included Popebama, Luke Helker, and Ensemble Decipher.

Lu is the second prize winner of The International Electronic Music Competition 2023. Lu’s works have been performed and featured at international festivals, conferences, and venues such as ISSUE Project Room, High Zero Festival, MATA Festival, IRCAM Forum, DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Jazz Showcase, SEAMUS conference, Elastic Arts, Spencer Museum of Art, NIME conference, the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, Oberlin MMG, Rhizome DC, and NowNet Arts conference. Lu has also been an artist in residence at Elektronmusikstudion EMS Stockholm SE.

Lu currently works as a lecturer in the Department of Music at the University of Pennsylvania, teaching Musical Interfaces and Robotics, and Music Production. Lu also works at the university as an audio engineer, with previous experience recording and mixing at An Die Musik LIVE.

They hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Stony Brook University and a Master of Music in Computer Music from Peabody Conservatory, where they studied under Dr. Sam Pluta.