Terry Dame

Terry Dame is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, instrument builder, and educator who began her musical journey playing trumpet and piano at age eight. After earning a degree in Environmental Planning, she returned to her creative roots, moving to New York City in 1985 to compose and design sound for theater. Over the years, Dame has performed and composed nationally and internationally, taking up the saxophone and later studying composition and instrument building during her MFA at Cal Arts. Influenced by renowned musicians and educators, she formed the Electric Junkyard Gamelan in 1998, an ensemble known for its custom-built instruments that toured prestigious venues for over a decade.

Dame’s work now focuses on interactive sensor-driven instruments and installations, and she curated the "Weird Wednesdays" music series dedicated to musical oddities from 2013 to 2017. She is also an accomplished film composer, with notable collaborations including "The Shining Star of Losers Everywhere" and "Hunting in Wartime." Throughout her career, Dame has received numerous grants and residencies, and she teaches at the School of Visual Arts and Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. She continues to tour, perform, and lead workshops on instrument building and interactive technology.

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