Dr. Teresa Marrin Nakra

Associate Professor of Music (Music Technology & Music Theory)

Email: nakra@tcnj.edu
Telephone: 609.771.2759

Ph.D., Media Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Media Laboratory
M.S., Media Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Media Laboratory
B.A., Music, Harvard University, magna cum laude

Dr. Nakra is an Associate Professor of Music at The College of New Jersey where she teaches:

• MUS 261: Musicianship I
• MUS 262:  Musicianship II
• MUS 263: Musicianship III
• MUS 335:  Studio Composition
• MUS 336: Interactive Music Programming
• MUS 337: Audio Recording and Production
• MUS 345 / ADA 345 / IMM 345:  Electronic Music Skills & Literature
• MUS 370 / CSC 470 /IMM 370 / ENG 470: Conducting Robots
• IMM 370 / CSC 470: Game Design

Prior to her appointment at TCNJ, she taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and the Massachusetts College of Art. In 2002 she completed a residency at Harvard University as a Clifton Visiting Artist. While at the acclaimed MIT Media Laboratory, Dr. Nakra worked closely with Rosalind Picard, Tod Machover, John Harbison, and Marvin Minsky.  She has received numerous distinctions for her academic work, including Research Fellowships from IBM, Motorola, and Interval Research Corporation.

During the 2007-2008 season, Dr. Nakra’s “Virtual Maestro” interactive conducting kiosk toured major concert halls around the United States and Europe. Funded by the Swiss bank UBS, the project was hailed as an innovative way to engage audiences in the process of making music by giving people the opportunity to try conducting a real orchestral recording using a game controller.

As a conductor of contemporary and classical music, Dr. Nakra has served as the assistant conductor of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.  She has been a featured performer of the Boston Cyberarts Festival, and has also performed on sensor-based electronic instruments in international venues such as the Ars Electronica Festival, the Lincoln Center Summer Festival, and London’s South Bank Centre.  As the culmination of her extensive doctoral study with the “Conductor’s Jacket,” she presented a live public performance with the Boston Pops Orchestra.

Dr. Nakra has been bringing a high-tech interaction paradigm to classical and traditional music as the Founder and Artistic Director of Immersion Music. She has produced many live music events with digital enhancements, including a concert at Boston’s Symphony Hall that attracted 2000 attendees.  Dr. Nakra and Immersion Music have also developed museum exhibits in collaboration with the Boston Children’s Museum, the Children’s Discovery Museum of Normal, Illinois, and the Boston Pops Orchestra.

Webpage: http://www.tcnj.edu/~nakra