Tony Conrad Is Dead

ORIGIN
Tony Conrad was an experimental filmmaker, avant-garde artist, musician and educator. He was born Anthony Schmaltz Conrad on March 7, 1940 in Concord, New Hampshire. He was the first child of Arthur Conrad and Mary Parfitt. He grew up in Baltimore and majored in Mathematics at Harvard University (1962).

CAREER
Conrad worked briefly as a computer programmer following his 1960 visit to Copenhagen. He moved to New York in the early Sixties and began his work in structural filmmaking. His first experimental film, The Flicker, was released in 1965. It was 30 minutes in length and consisted of only five different frames. Other notable films include Straight and Narrow (1970), Coming Attractions (1970), Four Square (1971) and Yellow Movie series (1973). Conrad worked as a professor at Antioch College in the Seventies. He also taught at the University of Buffalo’s media study department.

As a musician, Conrad is known for his mastery of the violin. He was a member of the 1960s musical group, Theatre of Eternal Music. He worked alongside avant-garde composer ‘La Monte Young’ and a few others to produce drone music. One of Conrad’s early compositions was “Four Violins” in 1964. His first musical release was ‘Outside the Dream Syndicate (1972)’, which was a collaboration with the German krautrock band, Faust. After a long break, the follow up ‘Slapping Pythagoras’ was released in 1995. Other releases include Early Minimalism Volume One (1997), and Fantastic Glissando (2003).

PERSONAL
Tony Conrad died on April 9, 2016 at the age of 76. He was battling prostate cancer but his immediate cause of death was pneumonia. He was staying at a hospice in Cheektowaga, New York at the time of his death. Conrad was married twice. His first wife was ‘Beverly Grant’ and his second ‘Beverly Grant’. He’s survived by his second wife, his son, Theodore, and two grandchildren.

Tony Conrad Bio, Net Worth, Height