Installations

ECLIPSE is an interactive, immersive sound installation which explores spatial perception, human-computer interaction and audio processing. The compositional concept is loosely inspired by the novel ‘Eclissi’ (2016) by Ezio Sinigaglia, focusing on themes of lifelong self-discovery and the unlocking of buried memories, through exposure to particular natural soundscapes and human gestures. Visual deprivation and embodied listening are at the core of this curated experience of interactive sound hunting. As such, the work is conceived for an empty space where surrounding visual stimuli are reduced to a minimum, encouraging the visitor to walk through the space relying on auditory cues only. Discoverable audio zones are invisible but programmed to react progressively to the visitor’s position within the space. This will create a physical, semi-gamified composition rooted in sound and spatial exploration.

Sara Caneva

Dr. Sara Caneva (b.1991) is a composer, conductor, sound artist and researcher. She is currently a Teaching Fellow in Composition at the University of Birmingham, where she also recently acquired her PhD investigating intersections between experimental music, theatre and visual cues. In her researcher capacity, she presented her music and gave lectures in academic contexts such as the Music Since 1900 Conference, the Orpheus Institute, and the University of Greenwich, among others. In 2023, she received a new multimedia opera commission about the cities of Gorizia-Nova Gorica, sponsored by the European Capitals of Culture, Piccolo Opera Festival, GO! Borderless 2025, Biennale Zagreb and Imago Sloveniae. The project also won the European Funds for Emerging Artists and the Italian Ministry of Culture special music funds.

Caneva’s music has been commissioned internationally by institutions such as Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Salzburg Mozarteum, Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik, Moscow Philharmonic, MusiikkItalo Camerata, BEAST Festival, and broadcast on the BBC Radio, Radio RAI, ORF and France Musique.

She was granted artistic residencies at several International institutions, such as Bogliasco Foundation (US/IT), Kone Saari Foundation (FI), Residencia de Estudiantes (ES), Styria Artist In Residence (AU), Schleswig Holstein Künstlerhaus Otte1 (DE), developing mixed-media compositions, land-art installations and cross-disciplinary projects. Many of her works are published by SZ Sugar.

Sara was nominated for the Classical:NEXT! Innovation Award 2020 and invited to the first edition of the LaMaestra Conducting Competition at the Philharmonie de Paris. As a new music specialised interpreter, she conducted several world premieres across the UK and Europe. She conducted professional orchestras and ensembles in highly renowned contexts, such as the Ensemble Modern, the BCMG, the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, the Ensemble ‘900 from Accademia di Santa Cecilia, the Danubia Orchestra Obuda, the Schallfeld Ensemble, and many others. She graduated in Composition, Orchestral Conducting and Piano at the Conservatoires of Rome, Milan and Stuttgart.

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Milad Mardakheh

Dr Milad Mardakheh (b.1991) is an Iranian composer, sound-artist, programmer and researcher. He has an undergraduate background in computer engineering, and has been an eclectic musician and composer of various styles and genres for over 15 years, namely Rock/Metal, Film/Theatre, Contemporary Classical, Acousmatic, Experimental Electronic and Computer music. He acquired an MMus degree in Composition from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2017, and later a PhD in Composition from the University of Birmingham in 2021.

His doctoral thesis featured a comprehensive portfolio of electroacoustic and computer music works reflecting cancer as a disease, written using the sonification of biomolecular data derived from research conducted at Barts Cancer Institute in London, UK. His current practice and research interests focus on the sonification of data, machine-learning / artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, and the composition / live improvisation of computer/data music using bespoke tools in Max/MSP and SuperCollider.

Mardakheh’s work has been featured and published in various academic journals, International conferences/symposiums as well as music festivals, radio programs and concerts, including Leonardo Journal, NIME (International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression), ICMC (International Computer Music Conference), klingt gut! KLG (International Symposium on Sonic Art and Spatial Audio), annual International BEAST (Birmingham Electroacoustic Sound Theatre) Music Festivals, Sound/Image Research, Reform Radio and Royal College of Music in Stockholm (Kungl. Musikhögskolan).

His most recent work, ‘Random Walks’ is an album of semi-improvised experimental computer music, published on the Zabte Sote label, which explores a juxtaposition of Persian Classical Music and Algorithmic Computer music. He is also one of the organisers and member of the Spectral Karaoke improvisers’ collective.

Mardakheh is currently Lecturing in Electronic Music Composition and Creative Music Technology at Goldsmiths, University of London & Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

This sound project consists of two parts: an electroacoustic piece and a sound installation. Both serve as a personal interpretation of the first chapter of the Genesis book in the Christian/Catholic Bible, aiming to foster active reflection on the concepts of “The Creator” and “The Creation.” The piece is structured into six short movements, each functioning as a sonic narrative-landscape representing one of the six days of creation.

On the first day, God organises the universe through His word. On the second, He divides a vast dome of dark waters—once the entirety of the universe—into the waters above (the sky and the waters below (the ocean). On the third day, He commands the earth to emerge from the ocean. On the fourth, God creates the celestial bodies—the sun, the moon, and the stars—establishing time itself. The fifth day sees the creation of creatures of the sky and great sea monsters, which He commands to multiply and fill the earth. On the sixth day, He creates all land-dwelling creatures, including those that crawl and walk, as well as humankind, man and woman. God blesses the seventh day and rests, contemplating His creation.

The installation is designed to allow visitors to interact with the spontaneous sonic elements of each day, set against a backdrop of composed drones and textural soundscapes. Within the installation space, mirrors equipped with motion sensors are placed in various locations. As visitors move, they will see their reflections, and the sensors will trigger specific sounds corresponding to each day, following the timetable of the piece. This interactive experience invites reflection on the nature of creation and the mind behind the universe, while also fostering an awareness of one’s own influence and significance within creation

Originally from Bogotá, Sara Ramírez Márquez is a composer for film and media, as well as an electroacoustic composer. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Electroacoustic Composition at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Her interests revolve around immersive sound, environmental sound, and religious studies.

intra/exo is a composition for a bespoke built and designed headset that allows for the audience to experience extraordinary spatial and sonic phenomena. The headset consists of two loudspeakers, which sit on the ears like headphones, and two surface transducers that sit on the cheekbones of the wearer. These transducers vibrate the cheekbones and skull of the wearer, allowing for them to experience sounds seemingly emanating from within the head. With these two different types of sound sources, complex and novel spatialisations are possible.

The work investigates the creative and experiential affordances of the bespoke headset and the audience’s perceptual system by placing the listener’s head as the site of exploration, creating sounds that move around and inside the listener’s body. The work employs binaural techniques to create hyper-realistic sonic environments with convincing spatial-morphological qualities. These environments are contrasted with the intimacy of the surface transducers, which create sounds that emanate from within the body.

Blake Johnston is a sound artist, technologist, academic, and composer from Aotearoa, New Zealand. His practice sits at the intersection of experience design and emerging forms of technology, synthesising these fields to explore the perception of the audience. His work adopts new forms of technology to create environments and experiences across multiple disciplines including live performance, kinetic sculpture, musical mechatronics, wearable technology, and installation art. Blake’s works explore a new approach to sound art, coined metaperceptual, which seeks to create extraordinary experiences and environments that invite the audience to explore their own perception.