N. Cameron Britt (b. 1974) is a composer, percussionist, and instrument builder. He began his career in music as a percussionist and it was his work as a performer and improviser that ultimately led him to composition. He completed his PhD in Composition at Princeton University in 2014 and previously served as Lecturer in Percussion at Duke University.
He is the inventor of the EMvibe, an electromagnetically-actuated vibraphone, and which presented at New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) 2012, the Percussive Arts Society Internation Convention (PASIC) 2013 and at the 2013 Margaret Guthman Musical Instrument competition.
As a composer of concert music, he has been fortunate to work with some outstanding ensembles including the Brentano String Quartet, So Percussion, Ensemble Klang, janus, NOW Ensemble and the electronica duo Matmos. His composition “Gossamer Albatross” can be heard on New Amsterdam Records (janus, i am not).
His interest in electronic music primarily concerns performance. His work combines electronics with acoustic instruments (and vice versa!), and he is interested in creating performable electronic instruments in both hardware and software. He is a member of the laptop-centric ensemble Sideband and has worked closely with its progenitor PLOrk (the Princeton Laptop Orchestra) as a performing member and assistant director.
He remains active as a percussionist, primarily as a creator and interpreter of new music having given numerous world and regional premieres. He performs with cellist Tom Kraines in the free improvisation duo Dithyramb and has written himself into some of his recent compositions. In addition, he has performed extensively with the North Carolina Symphony and many other orchestras throughout the Southeast including the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and the Macon Symphony. His work as a percussionist can be heard on Innova, Tzadik and Opus 3 Records.
He was the recipient of a 2015-2016 Artist Fellowship from the NC Arts Council. In 2005 he was awarded a Fulbright to work with vibraphone virtuoso Anders Åstrand in Stockholm, Sweden. He holds degrees in composition, percussion performance and music theory from Northwestern University and the University of South Carolina.