Not, I suspect, a name known to many members here, but
Michel, who I found out on Thursday died a few weeks ago (though I was aware he'd been very ill for a few months, it was still a shock just to see the finality of the "1949-2008" on the internet), was one of the truly inspiring innovators in the field of live electronic performance, not only in his own work (a bunch of youtubes
here) but also in his 27 years as director of STEIM (Studio voor elektroinstrumentale muziek) in Amsterdam, without which I and many others might never have had the opportunity, encouragement and resources to pursue and develop our ideas in that area. His vision, generosity and refusal to bow to commercial pressures (to the point of not releasing any recordings of his own work between 1984 and 2005) kept STEIM alive and unique for all those years.
Thanks and farewell.
