Mark Applebaum is the Leland and Edith Smith Professor of composition at Stanford University. His solo, chamber, choral, orchestral, operatic, and electroacoustic work has been performed throughout six continents, including commissions from the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the Spoleto Festival, the Kronos Quartet, and Vienna Modern Festival. Many of his pieces challenge the conventional boundaries of musical ontology, such as a concerto for florist and orchestra and pieces for instruments made of junk. Applebaum is also an accomplished jazz pianist and builds electroacoustic sound-sculptures. He is founding director of [sic]—the Stanford Improvisation Collective, serves on the board of Other Minds, and is a Carleton College trustee.