Mira Calix
Encyclopedia
Mira Calix, real name Chantal Passamonte, is an artist signed to Warp Records
, specialising in mixing her intimate vocals with jittering beats and experimental electronic textures. She is married to Sean Booth of Autechre
.
As a live performer and DJ, she has supported and toured with a broad range of acts, including Radiohead
, Plaid
, Godspeed You! Black Emperor
and Aphex Twin
.
, released by Warp on March 6, 2000.
In 2003 another full length album, Skimskitta
, appeared, and in that same year she collaborated with the London Sinfonietta
, performing her piece Nunu at the Royal Festival Hall
in London. The program, titled Warp Works and 20th Century Masters, included live insects on stage, and was later released on the 3 Commissions EP, which also included the original version, commissioned by the Geneva Natural History Museum.
2007 saw the release of the third full length Mira Calix album, Eyes Set Against the Sun
, again on Warp Records.
In 2004 she formed Alexander's Annexe - a band/ensemble with pianist Sarah Nicolls and sound designer David Sheppard. Their debut performance was at the Ravello Festival in Italy, followed by performances at the Aldeburgh Festival and Parco della Musica in Rome. Alexander's Annexe released the album, Push Door To Exit, on Warp in November 2006.
Mira Calix's earlier music is almost exclusively electronic. However, since 2003 she has incorporated orchestration and live classical instruments in her performances and recorded work. More recently she has concentrated mostly on collaborations and commissions. There have been several installation pieces, film soundtracks and works for theatre.
Mira set Shakespeare's Sonnet 130
to music for a project curated by composer Gavin Bryars
for The Royal Shakespeare Company. Other participants in "Nothing Like The Sun" were Nico Muhly
, Antony and the Johnsons
, Gavin Friday
, Natalie Merchant and Alexander Balanescu
. During 2007 there were two Operas/Music Theatre pieces, the first Elephant and Castle, for the Aldeburgh Festival
, was a collaboration with composer Tansy Davies
, directed by Tim Hopkins, Libretto by Guardian writer Blake Morrison
. The second, Dead Wedding premiered at the first Manchester International Festival
. Extracts from these performances appear on the album The Elephant In The Room: 3 Commissions released in October 2008. The album includes pieces from a video installation work titled Natures, a collaboration with Quayola and cellist Oliver Coates.
In December 2008 My Secret Heart premièred at the Royal Festival Hall
in London with 80 members of Streetwise Opera. The piece is inspired by Allegri
's 17th century choral work Miserere
. It is a collaboration with British video artists Flat-E and continues to tour as an installation.
She has written new commissions for the London Sinfonietta
; Rock Music/Rock Art and Ort-Oard, part of the Sinfonietta Shorts series to Celebrate their 40th Birthday.
In February 2009 she created the soundtrack to an installation of swinging light pendulums. Chorus was produced by United Visual Artists for the opening of the Howard Assembly Rooms, Opera North
's headquarters in Leeds. In 2009 she contributed a cover of a Boards of Canada
song to the Warp20 (Recreated)
compilation.
Later in the year she worked with Malcolm Middleton
of Arab Strap
on a session for BBC Radio 3
's Late Junction
.
In December of 2009, Mira Calix won a British Composer Award, in the category of Community or Educational Project, for My Secret Heart. It was described by a judge as "transformational, capturing raw humanity and giving voice to the disenfranchised in a sound-world which is original, absorbing and unsettling". My Secret Heart also won a Royal Philharmonic Society
Award in 2009.
Warp Records
Warp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is a pioneering independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the more enduring artists in electronic music....
, specialising in mixing her intimate vocals with jittering beats and experimental electronic textures. She is married to Sean Booth of Autechre
Autechre
Autechre are an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both natives of Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are one of the most prominent acts signed to Warp Records, a label known for its pioneering electronic music and through which all Autechre albums...
.
As a live performer and DJ, she has supported and toured with a broad range of acts, including Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
, Plaid
Plaid (band)
Plaid is a London-based British electronic music duo comprising Andy Turner and Ed Handley. They are former members of The Black Dog and used many other names, such as Atypic and Balil , before settling on Plaid...
, Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a Canadian post-rock band which originated from Montreal, Quebec in 1994...
and Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin
Richard David James , best known under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born electronic musician and composer described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music"...
.
Recording history
The first Mira Calix release was the Humba single in 1996 on the Warp label, with her debut album, One on OneOne on One (Mira Calix album)
One on One is the debut album by the electronic artist Mira Calix, released by Warp Records in 2000.- Track listing :#"Ms. Meteo" #"Skin With Me" #"Nostalgia"#"Sparrow" #"Three Teas Please" #"Schymk" #"Ithanga"...
, released by Warp on March 6, 2000.
In 2003 another full length album, Skimskitta
Skimskitta
Skimskitta is the second full length album by the electronic artist Mira Calix, released by Warp Records in 2003.-Track listing:#"Again, It Starts"#"Poussou"#"Woody"#"Savanna"#"The Wolf, The Sheep & The Door"#"Flicker"#"Do I Ever?"#"Sixnot6"...
, appeared, and in that same year she collaborated with the London Sinfonietta
London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is an English chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble specialises in contemporary music and works across a wide range of genres, performing modern classics alongside world premieres, and includes music by electronica artists as well as folk and...
, performing her piece Nunu at the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
in London. The program, titled Warp Works and 20th Century Masters, included live insects on stage, and was later released on the 3 Commissions EP, which also included the original version, commissioned by the Geneva Natural History Museum.
2007 saw the release of the third full length Mira Calix album, Eyes Set Against the Sun
Eyes Set Against the Sun
Eyes Set Against the Sun is the third full length album by the electronic artist Mira Calix. It was released by Warp Records in 2007.-Track listing:#"Because To Why"#"The Stockholm Syndrome"#"A Cereus Night"#"Eeilo"#"Protean"#"The Way You Are When"...
, again on Warp Records.
In 2004 she formed Alexander's Annexe - a band/ensemble with pianist Sarah Nicolls and sound designer David Sheppard. Their debut performance was at the Ravello Festival in Italy, followed by performances at the Aldeburgh Festival and Parco della Musica in Rome. Alexander's Annexe released the album, Push Door To Exit, on Warp in November 2006.
Mira Calix's earlier music is almost exclusively electronic. However, since 2003 she has incorporated orchestration and live classical instruments in her performances and recorded work. More recently she has concentrated mostly on collaborations and commissions. There have been several installation pieces, film soundtracks and works for theatre.
Mira set Shakespeare's Sonnet 130
Sonnet 130
Shakespeare's Sonnet CXXX mocks the conventions of the showy and flowery courtly sonnets in its realistic portrayal of his mistress.-Synopsis:...
to music for a project curated by composer Gavin Bryars
Gavin Bryars
Richard Gavin Bryars is an English composer and double bassist. He has been active in, or has produced works in, a variety of styles of music, including jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, historicism, experimental music, avant-garde and neoclassicism.-Early life and career:Born in Goole, East...
for The Royal Shakespeare Company. Other participants in "Nothing Like The Sun" were Nico Muhly
Nico Muhly
Nico Muhly is a contemporary classical music composer, who has worked and recorded with classical and pop/rock musicians. He currently lives in the Lower East Side section of Manhattan in New York City.-Early years:...
, Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons is a music group presenting the work of Antony Hegarty and his collaborators.-Career:British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Antony's music through his Durtro label. The debut album, Antony and the Johnsons, was released...
, Gavin Friday
Gavin Friday
Gavin Friday is an Irish singer and songwriter, composer, actor and painter.-Career:Gavin was born in Dublin and grew up in Finglas, a neighbourhood located on Dublin's Northside...
, Natalie Merchant and Alexander Balanescu
Alexander Balanescu
Alexander Bălănescu is a violinist and founder of the Balanescu Quartet.He emigrated with his family to Israel in 1969....
. During 2007 there were two Operas/Music Theatre pieces, the first Elephant and Castle, for the Aldeburgh Festival
Aldeburgh Festival
The Aldeburgh Festival is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk, centred on the main concert hall at Snape Maltings...
, was a collaboration with composer Tansy Davies
Tansy Davies
Tansy Davies is a British composer.As a youth, Davies sang and played guitar in a rock band. She developed an interest in composition in her teens, and subsequently began music studies at the Colchester Institute in French horn and composition...
, directed by Tim Hopkins, Libretto by Guardian writer Blake Morrison
Blake Morrison
Philip Blake Morrison is a British poet and author who has published in a wide range of fiction and non-fiction genres. His greatest success came with the publication of his memoirs And When Did You Last See Your Father? which won the J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography. He has also written a...
. The second, Dead Wedding premiered at the first Manchester International Festival
Manchester International Festival
The Manchester International Festival is an international cultural festival of original new work, held in the English city of Manchester. It is a biennial event, first taking place in June–July 2007, and subsequently recurring in the summers of 2009 and 2011...
. Extracts from these performances appear on the album The Elephant In The Room: 3 Commissions released in October 2008. The album includes pieces from a video installation work titled Natures, a collaboration with Quayola and cellist Oliver Coates.
In December 2008 My Secret Heart premièred at the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
in London with 80 members of Streetwise Opera. The piece is inspired by Allegri
Allegri
Allegri is a surname, and may refer to:*Gregorio Allegri , Italian composer*Domenico Allegri , Italian composer*Lorenzo Allegri , Italian painter and uncle of Correggio*Lorenzo Allegri , Italian composer...
's 17th century choral work Miserere
Miserere
Miserere may refer to:* Psalm 51, and its musical settings:** Miserere ** Miserere ** Miserere * Miserere by Zucchero* Plaza Miserere, a plaza in Buenos Aires...
. It is a collaboration with British video artists Flat-E and continues to tour as an installation.
She has written new commissions for the London Sinfonietta
London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is an English chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble specialises in contemporary music and works across a wide range of genres, performing modern classics alongside world premieres, and includes music by electronica artists as well as folk and...
; Rock Music/Rock Art and Ort-Oard, part of the Sinfonietta Shorts series to Celebrate their 40th Birthday.
In February 2009 she created the soundtrack to an installation of swinging light pendulums. Chorus was produced by United Visual Artists for the opening of the Howard Assembly Rooms, Opera North
Opera North
Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and the Theatre Royal, Newcastle...
's headquarters in Leeds. In 2009 she contributed a cover of a Boards of Canada
Boards of Canada
Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin...
song to the Warp20 (Recreated)
Warp20 (Recreated)
Warp20 is a compilation album released by Warp Records in 2009. It contains covers of Warp artists, such as Aphex Twin, LFO, Boards of Canada and Grizzly Bear by other Warp artists, such as Plaid, Autechre and Mira Calix.-Track listing:...
compilation.
Later in the year she worked with Malcolm Middleton
Malcolm Middleton
Malcolm Bruce Middleton is a Scottish musician best known for his work with Aidan Moffat in post-folk indie band Arab Strap as well as his solo career writing and producing...
of Arab Strap
Arab Strap (band)
Arab Strap were an indie rock band from Scotland that consisted of core members Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton. The band were signed to independent record label Chemikal Underground, and split in 2006...
on a session for BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
's Late Junction
Late Junction
Late Junction is a music programme broadcast on three nights a week by BBC Radio 3. Billed as "an eclectic mix of world music, ranging from the ancient to the contemporary", the programme has a wide musical scope. It is not uncommon to hear medieval ballads juxtaposed with 21st century electronica,...
.
In December of 2009, Mira Calix won a British Composer Award, in the category of Community or Educational Project, for My Secret Heart. It was described by a judge as "transformational, capturing raw humanity and giving voice to the disenfranchised in a sound-world which is original, absorbing and unsettling". My Secret Heart also won a Royal Philharmonic Society
Royal Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. It was originally formed in London to promote performances of instrumental music there. Many distinguished composers and performers have taken part in its concerts...
Award in 2009.
EPs/Singles
- Pin Skeeling (Single) (1998)
- Peel Session TX 09/03/00Peel Session TX 09/03/00Peel Session TX 09/03/00 is an EP by Mira Calix, released by Warp Records in 2000. The label released a number of sessions by their artists, including Autechre and Boards of Canada, recorded for the renowned John Peel show on BBC Radio 1....
(2000) - Prickle (Single) (2001)
- Nunu (2003)
- 3 Commissions EP (2004)
- The Elephant In The Room: 3 Commissions (2008)
Albums
- One on OneOne on One (Mira Calix album)One on One is the debut album by the electronic artist Mira Calix, released by Warp Records in 2000.- Track listing :#"Ms. Meteo" #"Skin With Me" #"Nostalgia"#"Sparrow" #"Three Teas Please" #"Schymk" #"Ithanga"...
(2000) - SkimskittaSkimskittaSkimskitta is the second full length album by the electronic artist Mira Calix, released by Warp Records in 2003.-Track listing:#"Again, It Starts"#"Poussou"#"Woody"#"Savanna"#"The Wolf, The Sheep & The Door"#"Flicker"#"Do I Ever?"#"Sixnot6"...
(2003) - Eyes Set Against the SunEyes Set Against the SunEyes Set Against the Sun is the third full length album by the electronic artist Mira Calix. It was released by Warp Records in 2007.-Track listing:#"Because To Why"#"The Stockholm Syndrome"#"A Cereus Night"#"Eeilo"#"Protean"#"The Way You Are When"...
(2007) - Lost Foundling 1999-2004 (2010, collaboration with Mark Clifford of SeefeelSeefeelSeefeel are a British electronic/post-rock band formed in the early 1990s. They are currently signed to Warp Records.-Biography:Seefeel formed during 1992 in London, England; with Mark Clifford on guitar, Mark Van Hoen on bass, Justin Fletcher on drums and Sarah Peacock on vocals and guitar. During...
)
Other work
Other than her releases on Warp, she has also composed music for the following:- The circus production Lactic Acid, by The Generating Company.
- A video installation with Felice Limosani; Final Touch.
- A sound installation for the Barbican Gallery; Le Jardin d'Barbican.
- A soundtrack to accompany an exhibition by the origami artist Michael Jackson.
- Music for the National Theatre production of Free by Simon Bowen.
- Sonnet 130 commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company
- Elephant and Castle directed Tim Hopkins for the Aldeburgh Festival
- Dead Wedding produced by Faulty Optic for Opera North and The Manchester International Festival
- Onibus commissioned by Opera North
- Transparent Roads - film soundtrack
- Natures - video installation - commissioned by Faster Than Sound Festival
- My Secret Heart commissioned by Streetwise Opera
- Ort-Oard commissioned by the London Sinfonietta
- Chorus - installation- commissioned by United Visual Artists and Opera North
- Strata 2 - video installation with Quayola - Nemo Festival
- Late Junction Sessions - with Malcolm Middleton
- She'll Be Around - commissioned by the ICA
External links
- Official Site
- Unofficial Site
- Warp Records
- http://exchangeandreturn.com
- Mira Calix RBMA video lecture session
- Alexander's Annexe
- Interview about her collaborative multimedia piece "Elephant and Castle" in new notes magazine
- Interview
- Interview about her album, Eyes Set Against The Sun
- my secret heart
- UVA