Bruce Haack

One of the 20th century's most imaginative and innovative electronic artists, Bruce Haack fused technology and wonder in his boundary-breaking music. After dropping out of Juilliard in the 1950s due to its rigid approach to learning, he built his own synthesizers and modulators -- including a motion-controlled vocoder -- and composed pieces that mixed classical, folk, country, and pop freely. Haack's idealism and whimsy made him a perfect fit for children's music. With dance teacher Esther Nelson and multi-instrumentalist Ted "Praxiteles" Pandel, he created 1963's Dance, Sing ...