I grew up in southern Illinois, then promptly went to both coasts for higher education, first to Princeton University, where I got a BA in 1976, and then to the University of California at Berkeley, where I got an MA followed by a PhD in 1982. After teaching at U.C. Santa Cruz and San Francisco State University, I joined the faculty at Pitt in 1989.
I am a composer and a pianist. My compositions, both acoustic and electroacoustic, explore dramatic conflicts of style and culture (high and low, Western and non-Western, low-tech and high-tech, etc.) and play with listener expectations, building strange narratives on topics such as fame, art, eroticism, the Romantic sublime, and social and economic issues. Some of my pieces have an element of theater, pushing the traditional boundaries of the concert hall through video, text, and staging. Both as a composer and performer, I am fascinated by virtuosity, and showcase different flavors of it in solo compositions, concerti, and in concert.
Selected Commissions
Fromm Foundation (2)
Koussevitzky Foundation (2)
Barlow Endowment commission
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Brentano String Quartet
Meet-the Composer Commissioning/USA
Selected Recordings
Eric Moe: Uncanny Affable Machines (New Focus, 2018)
Of Color Braided All Desire (Albany, 2015)
Meanwhile Back at the Ranch (New World Records, 2013)
Eric Moe: Kick & Ride (BMOP Sound, 2011)
Strange Exclaiming Music (Naxos, 2009)
TRI-STAN (Koch International Classics, 2007)
Siren Songs (Albany Records, 2007)
Sonnets to Orpheus and Siren Songs (Koch International Classics CD, 2001).
Kicking and Screaming (Albany Records, 2003).
Up & At 'Em (Albany Records, 2002).
On the Tip of My Tongue: Chamber and Electroacoustic Music of Eric Moe (Centaur 1997).
See complete discography.
Selected Recordings as a piano soloist
New American Waltzes, waltzes for piano by two generations of American composers (Albany Records, 2004).
Ezra Sims: Musing and Reminiscences. (New World Records, 2010) Sonatina for solo piano and Sonata for Cello and Piano, with Ted Mook.
Other recordings on Koch, Innova, CRI, Mode, and AK/Coburg labels, performing the music of John Cage, Roger Zahab, Marc-Antonio Consoli, Mathew Rosenblum, David Keberle, Jay Reise, and Felix Draeseke.
Selected Recent Compositions
The Color Of There Seen From Here (2018) for flute, violin, viola, cello, and piano with video.
Commissioned by Electric Earth Concerts.
Native Trees (2018) soprano and chamber ensemble, poem by W.S. Merwin, commissioned by Electric Earth Concerts & Portland Chamber Music Festival
Tough Songs About Death (2017) soprano and chamber ensemble, poems by Dorianne Laux, commissioned by Earplay
Remember/Imagine (2017) baritone, mezzo soprano, violin, tenor saxophone, contrabass, drumset, text by Frank Sherlock, commissioned by the Wm. Penn Foundation for the Network for New Music
Turn On Your Funk Motor (2017) for violin, tenor saxophone, contrabass, and drumset. Commissioned by the William Penn Foundation for the Network for New Music
And No Birds Sing (2017) for solo digital keyboard with microtonal tuning, written for the Beyond: Microtonal Music Festival
Now This – (2017) for piano solo, commissioned by Solungga Liu
Verklärtes Holz (Transfigured Wood) (2015) for cello solo, commissioned by Rhonda Rider
Uncanny Affable Machines (2014) for viola and fixed electroacoustic media, commissioned by Jessica Meyer
Like diamonds, we are cut with our own dust (2014) for solo piano, commissioned by Nicholas Horvath
Obey Your Thirst (2014) for violin solo and electrocoustic sound, commissioned by Mari Kimura
The Weasel of Melancholy (2013) for solo digital keyboard with microtonal tuning, commissioned by Aron Kallay
The Artwork of the Future (2016) opera, four singers and chamber ensemble libretto by Rob Handel
What Happens Next Will Shock You (2015) for viola and piano. Commissioned by Michael Hall
What Instruments We Have Agree (2015) for violin, viola, bass clarinet, and piano. Commissioned by counter)induction.
A Panoramic Guide to Glacier Travel (2014) for pipa, erhu, cello, zheng, and percussion. Commissioned by New Music USA for Music From China.
Welcome to Phase Space (2014) for vln, vlc, and piano. Commissioned by Electric Earth Concerts for the Horszowski Trio
Demon Theory (2013) for alto saxophone and piano. Commissioned by Elliot Riley.
The Salt of Broken Tears (2012) for string quartet. Commissioned by the Manhattan String Quartet.
Valkyrie Suite (2012) short opera for eleven female voices and chamber ensemble (fl, cln, vln, vla, perc, pno) 12’
libretto by Rob Handel, commissioned by Pittsburgh Opera Theater
Danger: Giant Frogs (2011) for four percussionists. Commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation for Talujon.
Of Color Braided All Desire (2011) for soprano and string quartet. Poems by May Swenson, commissioned by South Mountain Music.
Frozen Hours Melt Melodiously Into The Past (2009) (The Deeds and Sufferings of Light I). Commissioned by the Jebediah Foundation for the Firebird Ensemble
Kick & Ride (2008) concerto for drum set. Commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Boston Modern Orchestra Project.
Meanwhile Back at the Ranch (2011) (The Deeds and Sufferings of Light II), commissioned by the Jebediah Foundation for the Firebird Ensemble
Lavished Sunlight, Frozen Hours (2009) soprano, cello, and piano. Two poems by Richard Wilbur, commissioned by Monadnock Music.
Dead Cat Bounce (2009). Commissioned by counter)induction.
Let Me Tell U About R Specials (2005) for flute and electroacoustic sound. Commissioned by Patti Monson.
Strange Exclaiming Music (2004) for violin and piano. Commissioned by Curtis Macomber.
The Sun Beats the Mountain Like a Drum (2004) for pipa and electroacoustic sound. Commissioned by the Fromm Foundation for Wu Man
Legend of the Sad Triad (2004) piano solo
TRI-STAN (2003) sit-trag for mezzo-soprano and ten players. Commissioned by Mary Nessinger, text by David Foster Wallace; video by Suzie Silver.
Complete list of compositions and first performances
Activities
Codirector, Music on the Edge new music concert series, University of Pittsburgh.
Director, University of Pittsburgh Electroacoustic Music Studio.
Founding member, EARPLAY, San Francisco.
Board of Trustees member, counter)induction, Robert Miller Fund, and Composers Conference.
Advisory Board member and Princeton University Music Department.
Education & Training
- PhD, University of California at Berkeley, 1982