Malcolm Goldstein

Born in Brooklyn in 1936, Malcolm Goldstein studied composition at Columbia University under Otto Luening and became an early participant in New York's experimental avant-garde, co-founding the Tone Roads Ensemble with James Tenney and Philip Corner in the 1960s and contributing to the Judson Dance Theater. His practice centres on what he calls "soundings" — structured improvisations for solo violin that use graphic scores combining notation, calligraphy, and instruction to probe the instrument's full expressive range. Critics have described his approach as having reinvented violin playing. His book Sounding the Full Circle documents this practice.