Mira Calix

Born in South Africa, Chantal Passamonte moved to London in 1991.[1] She began to work at a record shop and took up organizing parties and DJing.[1] She worked at the labels 4AD and Warp Records, where she held the position of a publicist from 1994 to 1997.[1]

Mira Calix's earlier music specialised in mixing her intimate vocals with jittering beats and experimental electronic textures and natural sounds.[2] In 2003 she collaborated with the London Sinfonietta for the first time. Nunu premiered at the Royal Festival Hall in London at a concert titled "Warp Works and 20th Century Masters".[3] The piece then toured internationally, performed by live insects, orchestra and Calix on electronics. Since then, Calix has incorporated orchestration and live classical instruments in her performances and recorded work. She has worked with visual artists and musicians from other disciplines to create music for dance, theatre, film, opera and installations. Mira has been commissioned to write new works for the London Sinfonietta, Bang on a Can, the Aldeburgh Festival, The Royal Shakespeare Company, Opera North, Streetwise Opera and the Manchester International Festival.

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.[4] Alexander's Annexe released the album, Push Door To Exit, on Warp in November 2006.

In early 2008 Mira was commissioned to set Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 to music. The project was curated by composer Gavin Bryars for The Royal Shakespeare Company. During 2007 there were two theatrical works; the first, an opera titled Elephant and Castle, for the Aldeburgh Festival, was a collaboration with composer Tansy Davies, directed by Tim Hopkins, Libretto by author 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. The album also includes pieces from a video installation work titled Natures, a collaboration with video artist Quayola and cellist Oliver Coates.

In December 2008, My Secret Heart premièred at the Royal Festival Hall in London with 100 members of Streetwise Opera. The installation piece, inspired by Gregorio Allegri's 17th century choral work Miserere, is a collaboration with British video artists Flat-E. In December 2009, Mira Calix won a British Composer Award, for My Secret Heart.[5] It was described by the judges 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 and was nominated for a National Lottery Arts Award in 2010. The installation toured in other countries too, both with The Creators Project and The British Council.

In February 2009, she collaborated with United Visual Artists on Chorus for the opening of the Howard Assembly Rooms in Leeds. The installation piece, which was also exhibited at Durham Cathedral and The Wapping Project won an Award of Distinction in the Interactive Category at Prix Ars Electronica in 2010. Calix has continued to work with UVA, most recently in 2011 with The Orchestrion an installation at the Coachella Festival for Vice/Intel's The Creators Project.

In 2009, she contributed a cover of a Boards of Canada song; In A Beautiful Place Out in the Country, featuring cellist Oliver Coates to the Warp20 compilation. Later in the year she worked with Malcolm Middleton of Arab Strap on a session for BBC Radio 3's Late Junction.

In 2010, Calix worked with poet Alice Oswald on another commission for Opera North and collaborated for the first time with the ensemble Bang on a Can. Mira Calix and the ensemble premiered Spring Falls Back at the World Financial Center Winter Garden in New York. Mira also spent the year working on a R&D project to develop her skills in orchestration with composers Tansy Davies and Larry Goves. Exchange and Return an 18-month-long collaborative project was awarded a Grant for the Arts by Arts Council England.

In 2011, Mira wrote a choral score for Fables – A Film Opera working once more with visual artists Flat-e and Streetwise Opera. The film soundtrack, based on the fable of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" was nominated for a British Composers Award that year.[6]

As a live performer and DJ, Mira Calix has supported and toured with Radiohead, Boards of Canada, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Autechre, and other artists. She has performed at Sonar, Glastonbury, All Tomorrow's Parties, Coachella,[7] Latitude and other concert halls and festivals.

Mira Calix has a long history of work done for film, theater and other various types of media. In 2015, Calix was commissioned to score a Paris Opera film titled "Metamorphosis". The film was directed by Matthew Clark of the United Visual Artists.[8] In late 2015, Calix was commissioned to score Rory Mullarkey’s adaptation of The Oresteia for Shakespeare’s Globe. The score is made up of a combination of electronic, wind and brass instruments.[9] In 2016, Calix collaborated with students from Nanjing University of The Arts to make the temporary sound art installation "Moving Museum 35". It was described as a museum in a public bus. The exhibit ran on the Route 35 bus in Nanjing, China.[10] In 2017, Calix was commissioned to create work for the Organ Reframed event. The premise of the event is composers showcasing the variations and sounds of a traditional organ.[11] Calix alongside other composers showcased their pieces made with organs from October 13–15, 2017 in the Union Chapel in London.[12]

Mira Calix's debut album, One on One, was released by Warp on 6 March 2000. Followed by another studio album, Skimskitta in 2003 and Eyes Set Against the Sun[13] in 2007. Two albums of commissioned works: 3 Commissions (2004) and The Elephant In The Room: 3 Commissions (2008) were also released on Warp Records. Lost Foundling, a collaboration with Mark Clifford of the band Seefeel, was released on Aperture Records in 2010. There have also been numerous remixes and contributions to compilations.

• Official website
• Warp Records profile