“[Breitweiser’s] initial meditation of a buzzing, transformer-like hum spikes into caterwauling waves, as if the listener is moving through a caged dreamscape of electrical transmission substations.” – Tone Madison
Edward Breitweiser (b. 1986, USA) is an Illinois-based artist, musician, electronic instrument builder, and writer who creates moments of sonic life. Drawing inspiration from the experimental and electronic music traditions, the uncanny potential of new (and obsolete) technology, and the landscape and pace of the American Midwest, Breitweiser combines particulars (including analog and digital synthesizers, custom software, handmade electronics, audio/visual signals, text, network and systems models, performative activities, community organizing) to produce systems that arise from the emergent, nonlinear interactions of all components at once.
Recent projects have blended vintage synthesizers, digital video loops, and probabilistic open-form compositions to create multimedia systems which are positioned somewhere between drone, minimalism, and structural chaos. Minimal instruments and drones slowly evolve – sometimes subtly, sometimes catastrophically. He describes these compositions as “ecosystems” in which simple sonic elements are enmeshed in one another, taking on new, unexpected qualities through interaction. Spanning improvised and composed music, electronic instrument design, installations, and non-profit administration, Breitweiser’s projects embrace the contrasts between ecology and technology, solo and collective, clarity and density, DIY and infrastructure, stasis and surprise, simplicity and complexity.
In 2026, Breitweiser was selected as an Artist-in-Residence at Elektronmusikstudion (EMS) Stockholm and received an Individual Artist Grant from the Illinois Arts Council. In 2021, Breitweiser received a commission from NON:op Open Opera Works (Chicago) to create Six Words, a concert-length collaborative composition that engaged directly with Central Illinois residents to reflect on our collective experience of the COVID-19 pandemic through archival research, community dialogue, and collaborative music-making.
His works have been presented internationally Festival MusicAlp (Courchevel, France); Network Music Festival (Birmingham, UK); Stramash Space (Glasgow); MobileHCI (Stockholm); Salle Cortot (Paris); the Giorgio Cini Foundation (Venice); and throughout the United States, including at Washington University (St. Louis); the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago); Illinois State University Galleries (Normal, IL); Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL); the Fuse Factory (Columbus); the McLean County Arts Center (Bloomington, IL); Elastic Arts (Chicago); NON:op Open Opera Works (Chicago); Experimental Sound Studio (Chicago); threewalls (Chicago); Rozz Tox (Rock Island, IL), and Sixty Inches From Center (online). Breitweiser is a member of art and music collectives including No Below Editions, Slow Dog, Big Bright Karl Fire, and Junokas + Breitweiser.
Breitweiser founded and serves as Executive Director of pt.fwd (Facebook, Instagram), a contemporary music and sonic arts performance series in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. He serves on the Board of Directors for stretchmetal/Atmospheric Music Alliance (Chicago/New York) and the McLean County Arts Center (Bloomington-Normal). Breitweiser studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (MFA ‘12), l’École Normale de Musique de Paris, and Elmhurst College (BFA ‘09).
Breitweiser is an Instructional Assistant Professor of Creative Technologies at Illinois State University (Normal, IL).
Listen: Edward Breitweiser on Bandcamp, YouTube, and Vimeo
Interview: Community catharsis: Local composer uses our words to create music for processing the pandemic (WGLT.org, June 23, 2022)