Otto Henry: A Pioneer in 20th Century Experimental Music

The Special Collections Division is happy to bring you a new exhibit featuring the work of retired music professor Dr. Otto Henry.  It showcases the variety of materials available for research use in University Archives’ Otto Henry Papers. The exhibit will be on display in the Music Library from mid-February through mid-June. This exhibit was curated by Alston Cobourn and Justin Borer. 

In 1968, Dr. Otto Henry moved to Greenville, North Carolina for a teaching position in the East Carolina School of Music. Upon his arrival, he established the school’s Electronic Music Composition and Ethnomusicology programs as well as its Recording and Electronic Music Studio.  

Because Dr. Henry began composing in a time when computer music was theoretical, and consumer electronic music instruments did not exist, he built his instruments by hand from spare electronic parts, deconstructed radios, or kits ordered through the mail. Experimentation was a key part of the creative process for composers working with electronic music, and incorporation of multimedia aided in the development of a new way to create music; a space where man and machines played together, sometimes letting the machine play on its own. This idea, which modern musicians use regularly, was still only a few decades old when Dr. Henry began incorporating electronics into music. At that time, it was very futuristic. 

We hope you’ll come see the exhibit, including some of the equipment in the photograph below! If you can’t make it in person, you can further explore the Otto Henry Papers in our Digital Collections. 

Otto Henry’s students working in the Electronic Music Lab