Ellen Fullman

After graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute with a BFA in Sculpture, Ellen Fullman began developing The Long String Instrument in her St. Paul, Minnesota studio in 1980 and moved to Brooklyn the following year. Inspired by composer and instrument builder Harry Partch and Alvin Lucier’s Music on a Long Thin Wire, Fullman's large-scale work creates droning, organ-like overtones that are as unique in the world of sound as her vision of the instrument itself. Through her research in just intonation tuning theory, string harmonics and musical instrument design, Fullman has developed a compositional and performative approach that expands harmonic motion through a focus on upper partial tones. She has recorded extensively with this unusual instrument and has resonated architectural spaces in festivals across the world including Rewire, The Hague; Musica Festival, Strasbourg; Tectonics Festival Athens and The Sydney Festival. Awards include: Guggenheim Fellowship, Music Composition (2020); Gerbode Foundation, Special Awards in the Arts (2020); Foundation for Contemporary Arts Award, Music/Sound (2015); and DAAD, Artists-In-Berlin Program residency (2000). Her recordings include: Harbors (Room40, 2020) a collaboration with Theresa Wong, and The Long String Instrument (Superior Viaduct, 2015), first issued on Apollo Records in 1985 was selected as the number one reissue for 2015 by the Wire. Her work was cited by Alvin Lucier in his book, Music 109: Notes on Experimental Music (Wesleyan University Press, 2012). More info can be found at: ellenfullman.com