PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

David Cope

Also known as David Howell Cope

David Cope was a composer and AI researcher who wrote programs that analyzed music and generated new compositions. He studied at Arizona State and the University of Southern California before joining UC Santa Cruz's Music Department in 1977. His work spans the Experiments in Musical Intelligence system, books on musical style, and the responsive Emily Howell program, whose first album appeared in 2010. He led UC Santa Cruz's computer-assisted composition track, published Ethics of Computer-Assisted Music in 2022, and died in 2025.

Works
383
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026. Citations and h-index are hidden because this OpenAlex record may be incomplete or mix in other authors.

Timeline

  1. 1977

    Joining UC Santa Cruz

    He studies at Arizona State and the University of Southern California, then joins UC Santa Cruz's Music Department in 1977.

  2. 1981

    Creating Experiments in Musical Intelligence

    In 1981, a Cornell New Music Ensemble opera commission leads him to develop Experiments in Musical Intelligence (EMI), which analyzes existing music and recombines stylistic signatures into new compositions.

  3. 1991–2001

    Books on musical style

    He publishes Computers and Musical Style in 1991, Experiments in Musical Intelligence in 1996, and Virtual Music: Computer Synthesis of Musical Style in 2001.

  4. 2004–2005

    Leading a composition track

    UCSC names him to lead the computer-assisted composition track in its new Doctorate of Musical Arts program, with enrollment set to begin in fall 2005.

  5. 2010

    Working with Emily Howell

    In 2010, he feeds a musical phrase to Emily Howell and accepts or declines the continuation it proposes.

  6. 2010

    Emily Howell's first album

    Emily Howell's first album, From Darkness, Light, is released in 2010 with six movements performed on two pianos.

  7. 2022

    Ethics of computer-assisted music

    In 2022, he publishes Ethics of Computer-Assisted Music, a book about technology's implications for creativity and morality.

  8. 2025

    Death in 2025

    He dies in 2025 after serving as Professor Emeritus of Music at UC Santa Cruz.

Career

  1. From 1977University of California, Santa CruzProfessor Emeritus of Music, Lead, computer-assisted composition track

Education

  1. Arizona State University
  2. University of Southern California

From the biography.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of California, Santa Cruz. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 32%Includes University of California, Santa Cruz. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 32% in 2020–2024.
  3. Stanford University trained or employed 20 of the 89 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of California, Santa Cruz. Stanford University trained or employed 20 of the 89 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and employment links for major-prize and best-paper winners.
  4. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes University of Southern California. Our estimates of combined and median h-index at AI organizations, using current affiliations and OpenAlex records.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of David Cope yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Cope, David (Howell) | Encyclopedia.com encyclopedia.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. Triumph of the Cyborg Composer psmag.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. David Howell Cope senate.universityofcalifornia.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. Music composition currents.ucsc.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. David Cope: 'You pushed the button and out came hundreds and thousands of sonatas' theguardian.com. Checked 19 October 2026.