Visions of a Summer Night: V. Fireflies - Barton McLean

Barton McLean was born in Poughkeepsie, New York on April 8, 1938. He graduated from State University of New York in 1960, and Eastman School of Music (1965), where he was a student of Henry Cowell, He taught music theory and double bass at SUNY (1960–66), . From 1969-76 he directed the Electronic Music Center at the University of Texas at Austin. In 1967 he married fellow composer Priscilla Taylor, and by 1974 they began professional touring as The McLean Mix, presenting their electro-acoustic music, which became a full-time occupation by 1983 and has continued to the present.

Barton McLean's signature work is the audience-interactive installation RAINFOREST
created in collaboration with wife and composer Priscilla McLean. It was staged and performed extensively throughout the USA, Canada, Europe, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia from 1989 until 2013. In a darkened room a taped drone of recorded and synthesizer sounds and continuous projections of rainforest images provided an atmosphere in which members of the public were invited to perform vocally with microphones and on electronic and acoustic instruments. Several of McLean's works are available on Innova Records including the relatively recent album Soundworlds (2010).

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