Franz Kamin

Franz Kamin (May 25, 1941 – April 11, 2010) was a prolific American author, composer, and pianist whose works were modelled on topology, general systems theory, meditational processes, and chance operations.

Born in Milwaukee, Kamin studied composition at the University of Oklahoma with Spencer Norton, and at Indiana University with Roque Cordero, where he also studied piano with Alfonso Montecino. While at IU, Kamin, together with fellow composer James Brody organized FIASCO, an experimental collective which meet weekly in Bloomington from 1966 to 1972. Among his compositions from this period was "The Concert of Doors", a synaesthetic work in which a number of doors, each of vastly differing design, some found, some constructed, ranging from comical to mysterious, were set on a path through a woods to be traversed by the audience-participants. Kamin moved to New York in the 1970s and collaborated with cellist Charlotte Moorman, a fixture in the downtown avant-garde scene at that time. He eventually settled in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he remained for the rest of his life.

Kamin is published in two books (1980's Ann-Margret Loves You & other psychotopological diversions and 1986's Scribble Death) by Station Hill Press. Several of his shorter works, musical scores and an LP recording of Behavioral Drift II and Rugugmool have also been published.

He was killed in a car crash in Roseville, Minnesota when a car driven by James Brody, who also died, left the road, jumped a curb, and hit a tree. The two composers were returning from a SEAMUS festival in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Their names were released on April 12, 2010, by the Ramsey County medical examiner's office.