Miguel Álvarez-Fernández (born 28 November 1979 in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) is a

sound art Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary Time-based media, time-based Artistic medium, medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in Cross-genr ...

ist,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

, theorist and curator working between Madrid and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he has taught at the Electronic Music Studio of

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...

.The semina
"The Sound of Meaning"
organized by the "Institut für Sprache und Kommunikation". He also lectures regularly at the Department of

Art History Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

and

Musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

of the University of Oviedo (Spain), and at the European University of Madrid as a specialist in

Sound Art Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary Time-based media, time-based Artistic medium, medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in Cross-genr ...

and

Electroacoustic music Electroacoustic music is a Music genre, genre of Western art music in which composers use recording technology and audio signal processing to manipulate the timbres of Acoustics, acoustic sounds in the creation of pieces of music. It originated a ...

. His artistic and theoretical work addresses problematic concepts like the relationships between sexuality and music (both understood as socio-cultural constructions, rather than 'natural categories'), or the connections between interactive processes and the

illusion of control The illusion of control is the tendency for people to overestimate their ability to control events. It was named by U.S. psychologist Ellen Langer and is thought to influence gambling behavior and belief in the paranormal. Along with illusory sup ...

. Álvarez-Fernández has explored these issues in his sound installations and musical compositions, both alone and as a member of the art group DissoNoiSex.

Career

The works of Álvarez-Fernández have been presented in several venues in Europe and America, including the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the National Auditorium of Music and the

Residencia de Estudiantes ESO Hotel at Cerro Paranal (or Residencia) is the accommodation for Paranal Observatory in Chile since 2002. It is mainly used for the ESO ( European Southern Observatory) scientists and engineers who work there on a roster system. It has been ...

(where Álvarez-Fernández was composer-in-residence from 2002 to 2005) in Madrid,

, The Huset gallery in Copenhagen,

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, the Eyebeam Gallery in New York and O'culto da Ajuda in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, among many others. He has also composed music for different audiovisual productions, including the film "A via láctea", by Brazilian director Lina Chamie, premiered at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

in 2007. As a musicologist and sound-art theorist, Álvarez-Fernández has lectured (and his writings have been published) in Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Denmark, Sweden, Macedonia, Serbia, Lithuania, Russia and the United States, among other countries. His work as a sound-art curator is widely recognized in Spain. For the project "Itinerarios del sonido""Itinerarios del sonido"
Project's webpage. (co-curated along with María Bella) fourteen internationally recognized artists were invited (in many cases, for the first time) to Madrid, in order to create a new sound piece that later would be listened to in specific bus-stops around the city. Participants of this project included

Vito Acconci Vito Acconci (, ; January 24, 1940 – April 27, 2017) was an American performance art, performance, video and installation artist, whose diverse practice eventually included sculpture, architectural design, and landscape design. His performan ...

, Jorge Eduardo Eielson, Julio Estrada, Luc Ferrari, Bill Fontana, Susan Hiller, Christina Kubisch,

Adrian Piper Adrian Margaret Smith Piper (born September 20, 1948) is an American conceptual artist and Kantian philosopher. Her work addresses how and why those involved in more than one discipline may experience professional ostracism, otherness, racial ...

and Trevor Wishart, among others. In 2007, Álvarez-Fernández curated in Berlin "Offener Klang / Sonido Abierto" as part of the "Linux Audio Conference", with concerts and workshops at

and at the

Instituto Cervantes Instituto Cervantes (, the Cervantes Institute) is a worldwide nonprofit organization created by the Spanish government in 1991. It is named after Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616), the author of ''Don Quixote'' and perhaps the most important fi ...

Berlin. In April 2011 he curated, along with Chema de Francisco and Rubén Gutiérrez del Castillo, the "SON" Festival, which presented for the first time at the

Auditorio Nacional de Música The Auditorio Nacional de Música (''National Auditorium of Music'') is a complex of concert venues located in Madrid, Spain and the main concert hall in the Madrid metropolitan area. It comprises two main concert rooms: a symphonic hall and a cham ...

(Madrid) the newest generation of Spanish sound artists in a series of concerts, performances and sound installations. Also in 2011, Miguel Álvarez-Fernández received the IV "Cura Castillejo" prize, awarded at the Nits de Deshielo i Art Festival, organized in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

by sound artist Llorenç Barber (the three previous recipients of the award being Francisco López, Fátima Miranda and sound installation pioneer Luis Lugán). In 2015 he directed, in collaboration with Luis Deltell, the feature-length documentary "No escribiré arte con mayúscula" ("I will not write art with a capital letter"), devoted to the life and works of Spanish pioneer of conceptual art Isidoro Valcárcel Medina, premiered at the Festival Punto de Vista (

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

). In 2008 Miguel Álvarez-Fernández became host at Radio Clásica/ Radio Nacional de España for the weekly radio broadcast Ars Sonora,Ars Sonora
Webpage/podcast of the radio program a cult program (founded in 1985) devoted to sound art and experimental music.

References

External links

"Itinerarios del sonido"
public sound-art project curated by Miguel Álvarez-Fernández
DissoNoiSex"Álvarez-Fernández: Sound Amateur"
article by Silvia Scaravaggi published by Digimag (Italy)

article by Miguel Álvarez-Fernández published by the HZ Journal (Sweden)

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110722045652/http://www.musicadhoy.com/son/ "SON" Festival sound art project curated by Miguel Álvarez-Fernández at the

(Madrid)

Bibliography

*Álvarez Fernández, Miguel. 2005a.
Dissonance, Sex and Noise: (Re)Building (Hi)Stories of Electroacoustic Music
. In ''ICMC 2005: Free Sound Conference Proceedings, International Computer Music Conference, Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, September 4–10, 2005''. Barcelona: International Computer Music Conference; International Computer Music Association.; SuviSoft Oy Ltd. *Álvarez Fernández, Miguel. 2005b.

. ''Taller Sonoro: Revista cuatrimestral de música contemporánea'' 4 (January). ISSN 1887-2093 *Álvarez-Fernández, Miguel. 2005c. "El comisariado como metodología de investigación musicológica". ''Revista de Musicología'' 28, no. 2:1425–34. ISSN 0210-1459 *Álvarez-Fernández, Miguel. 2007a.
Posibilidades (e imposibilidades) de los "nuevos medios tecnológicos" en la creación sonora
. ''Sul Ponticello. Revista on-line de estudios musicales'' 7 (January). ISSN 1697-6886 *Álvarez-Fernández, Miguel. 2007b.

(seminar syllabus). *Anon. .d. "Miguel Álvarez-Fernández" Spanish Wikipedia article. *Bandrés, Jon. 2011.
Nace SON, festival para la nueva generación de artistas sonoros españoles
. ''RTVE.ES'', 8 April 2011. *Correa, Sergio. 2007.
Nuevos instrumentos para música nueva
. ''BBC MUNDO.COM'', 27 March 2007. *Prieto, Ruth. 2013.
''No puedo entender la música como algo distinto de la política'', interview with Miguel Álvarez-Fernández
. ''El Compositor Habla'', April 2013. *Reverter, Arturo. 2011.
SON. Músicadhoy se asoma a la cantera
. ''El Cultural'' 8 April 2011. *Sánchez, Sergio. 2013.
''España electroacústica'', interview with Miguel Álvarez-Fernández
. ''Blog del experto FNAC'', 2 August 2013. *Scaravaggi, Silvia. .d.br>Alvarez-Fernandez: Sound Amateur
. ''Digimag'' 27, sept 07. {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez-Fernandez, Miguel Experimental musicians Sound artists Spanish installation artists Spanish contemporary artists 21st-century Spanish classical composers Spanish musicologists Spanish male classical composers Artists from Madrid Complutense University of Madrid alumni Living people 1979 births University of Oviedo alumni Spanish radio personalities 21st-century Spanish male musicians