Ken Ueno

Artistic Lab

An internationally acclaimed Berkeley professor and prize-winning pioneer of extended vocal techniques.

Artist Ken Ueno in a red and black-lit room with a strange and alien instrument.

Photo courtesy of the artist.

A Rome Prize and Berlin Prize recipient, Ken Ueno (上野ケン / 上野健) is a composer, performer, sound artist, and scholar whose music is championed by leading performers and ensembles worldwide. His Shiroi Ishi, written for the Hilliard Ensemble, remained in their repertoire for over a decade, while Pharmakon was toured internationally by Eighth Blackbird for several seasons. As a vocalist, Ueno has pioneered extended vocal techniques, and is known for transforming the megaphone into a musical instrument, and has collaborated with myriad diverse artists including Ryuichi Sakamoto, Ikue Mori, Du Yun, DJ Sniff, Rebecca Lloyd-Jones, Karen Yu, and Wukir Suryadi of Senyawa. A Professor of Music at UC Berkeley, Ueno is also an active scholar and writer.