Interdisciplinary presentations for colleges, universities, museums, civic organizations & conferences TERMEN-OLOGYTM presentations are customized, ranginge from single-evening lectures to 1 week residencies with workshops, concerts, exhibits and demonstrations.
multimedia lectures interdisciplinary seminars workshops 1 week residencies concerts demonstrations museum exhibits	TERMEN-OLOGYTM is the creation of Albert Glinsky, an authority on Leon Theremin (1896-1993) and author of the award winning book, THEREMIN: ETHER MUSIC AND ESPIONAGE (University of Illinois Press, with a foreword by Robert Moog).  Each TERMEN-OLOGY presentation is adapted to suit the needs of the presenting organization. TERMEN-OLOGY focuses on the dazzling genius of Leon Theremin (Lev Termen), the Russian scientist who invented some of the most bizarre and famous musical instruments, gadgets, and espionage equipment of the 20th century. Theremin was a visionary who predicted virtual reality, and even the internet decades before they came into being. His musical instrument was the ‘grandfather' of electronic instruments and direct predecessor of the synthesizer. But he was also a tragic figure who dealt in espionage and was himself dealt a treacherous hand by the KGB. Theremin's life takes in everything from Alcatraz to Macy's store windows, The Beach Boys to the United Nations, Joseph Stalin to Shirley Temple, the gulags of Siberia to the inanities of a Jerry Lewis film.

Termen-ology presentation in California

TERMEN-OLOGY integrates all of these fields: music/electronic music dance ethics political science economics physics engineering history espionage Radio, TV, and Film histor In a college/university setting, many diverse departments can cooperate in studying the same topic, each department bringing their unique perspective to the subject in an integrated, interdisciplinary, contextual study.

--About Leon Theremin--

Lev Termen, better known under his Gallicized name of  Leon Theremin, was the inventor of some of the most bizarre musical instruments and gadgets the 20th century has ever known. His single life intersected the decisive moments of our century.  

Theremin's life is a strange and captivating story of intrigue, invention, success and tragedy, which takes the student through Imperial Russia, World War I, the Russian Revolution, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War era, and Perestroika, and touches upon topics as diverse as the history of radio and television, American politics and race relations in the 1930s, world economy, cultural history, music, the birth of communism, Stalin's purge, the history of the KGB, 1950s American culture, sci-fi movies, and the birth of electronic music and synthesizers, to name just a few!  Any one of these topic areas, or a combination of several, can be integrated into a custom-made presentation designed to suit the needs of a particular curriculum or theme exhibit.  

Theremin was best known for the musical instrument he invented that bears his name and that has the distinction of being the only musical instrument in the world that is played by never touching it!  The Beach Boys featured it in the famous song, "Good Vibrations" and it was also used by Leopold Stokowski in The Philadelphia Orchestra. Theremin's life started out with great promise, as he earned the admiration of Lenin. He was sent on official tours across Russia and to Europe, eventually settling for 11 years in America.  While in the US, he was celebrated and feted, and the RCA Corporation produced 500 copies of his 'revolutionary' musical instrument- an instrument which many predicted would change the course of music forever. Returning to the Soviet Union during the height of the Stalinist purges Theremin expected to be accorded a warm welcome and extended privileges. Instead he wound up in a Siberian labor camp and was soon swallowed up by the top-secret Soviet intelligence machine--vanished and presumed dead for nearly thirty years. Using the same technology as he did for his musical instrument, he designed bugging devices that eavesdropped on U.S. diplomatic offices--equipment at the center of a pivotal cold war confrontation. Throughout his life Theremin developed other electronic wonders--one of the earliest working televisions, and multimedia art devices that anticipated virtual reality by decades. Ending his life in poverty and obscurity he is now being recognized for his contributions to various forms of technology, for the historical span of his lifetime, and of course, for his singular musical instrument.

To host a TERMEN-OLOGY ^TM presentation, contact Dr. Albert Glinsky: PHONE/FAX: 814.824.2361; e-mail: aglinsky@mercyhurst.edu See also the Appearances page on this website.

About Albert Glinsky and TERMEN-ology--

TERMEN-OLOGYTM  is the brainchild of Dr. Albert Glinsky, author of the critically acclaimed biography of Lev Termen, THEREMIN: ETHER MUSIC AND ESPIONAGE, with a forward by Robert Moog. A gifted and imaginative speaker, Dr. Glinsky's engrossing TERMEN-ology presentations blend videos, slides, exhibits, lectures, music, and demonstrations.  His seminars draw together diverse and disparate departments of a college or university in an integrated study. THEREMIN is the winner of the prestigious ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award. Albert Glinsky is also a composer whose music has been performed worldwide, and a professor of music who has written extensively and taught for many years. He is currently Professor at the D'Angelo School of Music at Mercyhurst College in Pennsylvania. To host a TERMEN-OLOGY TM presentation, contact Dr. Albert Glinsky: PHONE/FAX: 814.824.2361; e-mail: aglinsky@mercyhurst.edu

Photo Gallery of TERMEN-ology Presentations across the U.S. and abroad

To host a TERMEN-OLOGY ^TM presentation, contact Dr. Albert Glinsky: PHONE/FAX: 814.824.2361; e-mail: aglinsky@mercyhurst.edu

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