Bimstein, Phillip (Kent)

Bimstein, Phillip (Kent), noteworthy American composer and politician, b. Chicago, Nov. 20, 1947. He studied theory and composition at the Chicago Cons, of Music (B.M., 1972). In the 1980s he led the new wave band Phil ‘n’ the Blanks, whose 3 albums and 6 videos were college radio and MTV hits. After further studies at the Univ. of Calif, at Los Angeles in composition, orchestration, and conducting, Bimstein took a hiking trip to southern Utah, where he remained, becoming a two-term mayor (1993–2001) of the town of Springdale, and an outspoken advocate of Utah’s wilderness. His Dark Winds Rising for String Quartet and Tape (1992) is based on the controversy regarding a proposed toxic waste incinerator on the Kaibab Paiute Reservation. He received grants from the NEA (1991, 1993, 1995) and a Meet the Composer “New Residency Award” (1997–99). In 1992 he won the Prix Ars Electrónica for his Garland Hirschi’s Cows . In 2000 he was elected to the board of the American Music Center. Bimstein classifies his work as “alternative classical” his compositions often mixing traditional orchestral instruments with digitally sampled natural sounds or voices.