Caterina Barbieri (born September 14, 1990) is an Italian composer and musician.

Education

Barbieri studied electroacoustic composition and classical guitar at the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, in which she earned a bachelor's and master's degree, respectively. She also has a bachelor's degree from the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

with a thesis in

ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...

about

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

and

minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

Music career

Her work explores consciousness and the psychoacoustic effects of repetition. Most of her compositions make use of modular synthesis, and she was first inspired by the

Buchla Buchla Electronic Musical Instruments (BEMI) was a manufacturer of synthesizers and unique MIDI controllers. The origins of the company could be found in Buchla & Associates, created in 1963 by synthesizer pioneer Don Buchla of Berkeley, Californ ...

200, though she has stated she is less interested in the hardware and prefers to focus on the music itself. She is often cited as a minimalist composer and takes a no-frills approach towards composition. From 2013, she attended the Elektronmusikstudion electronic music studios in Stockholm and, after releasing a split album under the name Morbida with Medicine Bow (2014), composed and produced her solo debut album ''Vertical'', released in 2014 by Cassauna, a sub-label of the U.S.-based

Important Records Important Records is an American independent record label based in Groveland, Massachusetts. History John Brien started Important Records in 2001 out of his Newburyport, Massachusetts apartment, initially as an online store. Important's first tw ...

. Since 2016, Barbieri has collaborated closely with Berlin's historic experimental music and performing arts festival

Berlin Atonal Berlin Atonal is an annual festival for sonic and visual art in two distinct stages. It first took place between 1982 and 1990, relaunching in 2013 under new direction and continuing to the present day. The festival presents contemporary, interdi ...

, with multimedia projects such as her collaboration with American musician

Kali Malone Kali Malone (born 1994) is an American composer and organist based in Stockholm. Her works implement unique tuning systems in minimal music, minimalist form for analog synthesis, analog and digital synthesis often combined with acoustic instrumen ...

Upper Glossa and her audiovisual show Time-blind with visual artist Ruben Spini. In 2017,

released on double vinyl the second album ''Patterns of Consciousness'', composed through the exclusive use of the ER-101 four-track sequencer and a harmonic oscillator. According to the artist's intentions, the album would "explore the psycho-physical effects of sound on consciousness through ideally infinite repetition and permutation of patterns." At the time of its release, ''Patterns of Consciousness'' was considered one of the best releases of the year by various magazines including

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

Fact A fact is a truth, true data, datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to Fact-checking, check facts. Science, Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by ...

and

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

. The same year saw the release of Remote Sensing, a collaboration with Carlo Maria under the name of Punctum. In 2018, ''Born Again in the Voltage'' was released, an album consisting of four tracks for Buchla 200,

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

and

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

recorded at Elektronmusikstudion in Stockholm between 2014 and 2015. That release received positive reviews from magazines such as

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

. Shortly after ''Born Again in the Voltage'', a split album with Eleh ''Wear Patterns'' was released. In 2019, she released ''Ecstatic Computation'' on

Editions Mego Mego was an experimental electronic music independent record label based in Vienna, Austria. The label has been superseded by a new company, Editions Mego, which was set up both to keep Mego albums in print and to issue new albums, run by Peter ...

, which received excellent reviews from international critics.

Brainwashed Brainwashed may refer to: *Brainwashing, to affect a person's mind by using extreme mental pressure or other methods Film and television * ''Brainwashed'' (film), a 1960 German film * '' Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power'', a 2022 American documenta ...

called the album the "work of a hyper-intelligent android who has discovered human emotions and feels them very intensely," while Rolling Stone Italia included ''Ecstatic Computation'' among the best Italian records of the decade. The same year she was included in the catalogue of the historic music publisher Warp Publishing. In 2020, she composed the soundtrack for '' John and the Hole'', which was selected for that year's Cannes film festival. In July 2021, she announced the launch of her independent label, light-years. In April 2022 she released the single "Broken Melody" and announced her fifth album ''Spirit Exit'', which was released on July 8, 2022. Recorded during the first two months of the 2020

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

lockdown in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, the album is also the first in her solo work to feature

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, and vocals in addition to synthesizer. Critics noted that ''Spirit Exit'' was also more taut and condensed in sound compared to previous albums, owing to its development occurring in her home studio. Barbieri has participated in some of the most important music festivals in the world, from

to Unsound to

Primavera Sound Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as Primavera) is an annual music festival held at the Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain, during late May and early June. It was founded in 2001 by Pablo Soler as "a showcase for Spanish Noise rock, noise ban ...

Sónar Sónar is a festival dedicated to music, creativity and technology, founded in Barcelona in 1994 by Ricard Robles, Enric Palau, and Sergi Caballero. The festival has been divided into two parts since its inception: Sónar by Day and Sónar b ...

, Dekmantel,

Berghain Berghain () is a nightclub in Berlin, Germany. It is named after its location near the border between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain and is a short walk from Berlin Ostbahnhof main line railway station.

and CTM. She has also presented her work in prestigious venues such as the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

in London, the

Berliner Festspiele The Berliner Festspiele (German language, German for Berlin Festivals) in Berlin organise and stage a large number of independent festivals as well as exhibitions and individual events in the fields of music, theatre, performance, dance, literat ...

Haus der Kunst The ''Haus der Kunst'' (, ''House of Art'') is a museum for modern and contemporary art in Munich, Bavaria. It is located at Prinzregentenstraße 1 at the southern edge of the Englischer Garten, Munich's largest park. It was built between 1933 an ...

in Munich, the Museo Anahuacalli in Mexico City, the

Ruhrtriennale The Ruhrtriennale ( compound of ''Ruhr'' and ''triennale'' "lasting 3 years"), also known as Ruhr Triennale, was founded in 2002 and is a music and arts festival in the Ruhr-area of Germany which runs between mid-August and mid-October, and happen ...

and the Philarmonie de Paris among the many others. The album '' Myuthafoo'', recorded at the same time as ''Ecstatic Computation'', was released on June 19, 2023 on the composer's light-years imprint. In 2023, the song ''Fantas for Electric Guitar'', taken from the album ''Fantas Variations'' and performed with Walter Zanetti, was chosen for the soundtrack of the extended version of ''Il popolo delle donne'' by Yuri Ancarani, a documentary selected for the 20th edition of

Giornate degli Autori The Giornate degli Autori (; 'Authors' Days') or simply the Giornate, formerly also known in English as Venice Days, is an independent section of Venice Film Festival. Anac and 100autori are engaged to support and promote the Giornate. It was fou ...

at the 80th

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

. In 2024, Barbieri participated in the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

with a music piece co-composed with Kali Malone for

Massimo Bartolini Massimo Bartolini (born 1962 in Cecina) is an Italian artist. Bartolini works are mainly installations, but also creates video and photographs. In 2023, he was appointed to represent Italy as unique artist at the national pavilion of the LX Venic ...

’s organ at the Italian Pavilion and she also premiered new work Womb in Paris, commissioned by

IRCAM IRCAM (French: ''Ircam, '', English: Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music) is a French institute dedicated to the research of music and sound, especially in the fields of Avant-garde music, avant garde and Electroacoustic ...

and

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

for the 350 loudspeaker system at ESPRO. On November 5, 2024, the Board of Directors of the

appointed her as Artistic Director of the Music Department for the two-year period 2025-2026.

Discography

Studio albums

* 2014 – ''Morbida/Medicine Bow'' (as Morbida, split with Medicine Bow) * 2014 – ''Vertical'' * 2017 – ''Remote Sensing'' (as Punctum, with Carlo Maria) * 2017 – ''Patterns of Consciousness'' * 2018 – ''Bestie Infinite/Wear Patterns'' (split with Eleh) * 2018 – ''Born Again in the Voltage'' * 2019 – ''Ecstatic Computation'' * 2021 – ''Fantas Variations'' * 2022 – ''Spirit Exit'' * 2023 – ''Myuthafoo''

EPs

* 2016 – ''XKatedral Volume III'' (with Ellen Arkbro & Kali Malone) * 2018 – ''Sogno che suona''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbieri, Caterina 1990 births Living people Italian composers Italian electronic musicians 21st-century Italian women musicians