Musical Arts Center MC426B
Education
- M.M., Master of Music, Indiana University, 1989
- B.M., Bachelor of Music, Indiana University, 1985
Biography
Konrad Strauss is professor emeritus of music in music production: audio engineering. He served as chair of the Jacobs Audio Engineering Department (now the Music Industry Department) and director of Recording Arts from 2001 to 2022.
Prior to joining the faculty at IU, he worked as an independent producer/engineer based in Chicago, chief engineer for Classic Digital Inc., and a staff engineer at the Chicago Recording Company.
During his time as department chair, Strauss redesigned the audio curriculum at Jacobs and expanded the department from two to six full-time faculty. He oversaw the renovation of existing recording facilities and established standards and workflows for recording and archiving the Jacobs School’s performances.
Notable accomplishments include the IUMusicLive! streaming project, a first-of-its-kind live video streaming portal at a university, established in 2007, the design and construction of the state-of-the-art Georgina Joshi Recording Studio, and, more recently, a partnership with Naxos Records to distribute the catalog of Jacobs’ record label, Made@Jacobs. His students have gone on to Grammy-, Emmy-, Tony-, and Academy Award-winning careers in music recording and production, sound design for theater, visual media, and video games.
Strauss’s creative and research interests include music recording and production, audio archiving and preservation, immersive audio recording and production, and the teaching of technology. He regularly presents workshops and papers for the Audio Engineering Society, Association for Recorded Sound Collections, and other industry organizations and has served as a consultant for educational programs, archival projects, and arts organizations. Over his 35-year career, he has recorded and produced more than 500 audio, video, and multimedia projects.
Strauss continues to record and produce music projects. His discography includes projects for international artists and ensembles such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Joffrey Ballet; Itzhak Perlman and Daniel Barenboim; and most of the major record labels. Studio work has included projects for Cirque du Soleil, Mannheim Steamroller, and Dave Brubeck; television and radio commercials for major international brands; and television and streaming projects for ABC, CBS, HBO, and PBS.
As a mastering engineer, Strauss specialized in independent rock for labels such as Drag City, Touch and Go, and Thrill Jockey. His recordings have won numerous awards, including Grammys for Best Chamber Music Record and Best Gospel Record, a Hugo Award for Best Children’s Programming, national and regional Emmys, and accolades from publications such as Rolling Stone, Fanfare, Gramophone, American Record Guide, and Stereophile.