Wendy Carlos: podcast appearances and interviews

Wendy Carlos, born Walter Carlos on November 14, 1939, is an American musician and composer recognized for her work in electronic music and film scores. She studied physics and music at Brown University before moving to New York City in 1962 to pursue music composition at Columbia University. During her time at Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, Carlos collaborated with electronic musicians and technicians, contributing to the development of the Moog synthesizer, Robert Moog's first commercially available keyboard instrument. She gained prominence with her 1968 album Switched-On Bach, featuring music by Johann Sebastian Bach performed on a Moog synthesizer. The album was instrumental in popularizing synthesizers in the 1970s and earned her three Grammy Awards. Her success with synthesized classical music extended through several albums, as well as experimental and ambient compositions. Carlos composed scores for notable films including A Clockwork Orange (1971) and The Shining (1980) directed by Stanley Kubrick, and for Tron (1982) produced by Walt Disney. In 1979, she publicly disclosed her gender identity, revealing that she had been living as a woman since at least 1968 and had undergone gender-affirming surgery in 1972. As of 2020, much of her discography remains out of print and has not been made available on digital streaming or download platforms.