Wendy Carlos (born 1939) is one of the most important and influential figures in 20th-century electronic music. She is both a composer and a synthesizer pioneer, known for bridging classical tradition with electronic innovation.
Born in Rhode Island, she studied physics and music at Brown University. She later attended Columbia University, studying music composition and working at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center.
Carlos worked closely with Robert Moog in the 1960s, helping refine and expand his early synthesizer designs. She became one of the first musicians to show that synthesizers could produce expressive, serious music—not just sound effects.
Her major work was Switched-On Bach (196,
an album of J.S. Bach works performed entirely on Moog synthesizer. It was a huge success and won multiple Grammys, sold over a million copies, bringing electronic music into mainstream recognition.
Her film scores included, A Clockwork Orange (1971), where she combined original works with synthesized classical music, The Shining (1980), which contributed eerie, electronic textures to Kubrick’s horror masterpiece, and Tron (1982) – combining synthesizers and orchestra for a groundbreaking hybrid film score.
Her other albums were The Well-Tempered Synthesizer (1969), Sonic Seasonings (1972, one of the first ambient albums), Digital Moonscapes (1984), and Beauty in the Beast (1986).
Carlos showed how electronic instruments could be musically expressive and intellectually rigorous. She expanded both the public perception and technical possibilities of synthesizers. She is also recognized as one of the first prominent transgender women in music, transitioning in the late 1960s and early 1970s—a courageous step at the time.