Sulzer has been balancing music and biomedicine for nearly 20 years. The child of psychologists, he grew up in Carbondale, in southern Illinois, where he learned to play guitar and other instruments. By the time he came to New York, in 1981, he'd already divided his life. He enrolled at Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons and in courses at Juilliard, the renowned arts school at Lincoln Center. In art, a work can be perfect.
Science is never perfect.
He does no research in acoustic perception, or on the basis effects of rhythm or pitch on the organism. His music doesn't aim to affect your brain any differently than Mozart's or Louis Armstrong's. Sulzer and Soldier have separate professional careers, and tension rather than resolution keeps them going. Art and science are really different, he reflects. That's it, it's done.