About me

Hi! My name is Pilar Miralles and I was born in Almería (Spain) in 1997. I am a composer and sound artist based in Helsinki (Finland). I speak Spanish, English, and a decent French. You can find my artist statement and short bio in the home page.

Education

• Preparatory doctoral student in Composition at DocMus Doctoral School of the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki (Finland, ongoing)
• Master of Music in Composition at the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki (Finland, 2022)
• Published Master's thesis "Galina Ustvolskaya’s 'True and Eternal Bliss': spiritual creativity in the Soviet Union"
• Master’s Degree in Electroacoustic Composition at "Centro Superior Katarina Gurska” of Madrid (Spain, 2020)
• Bachelor’s Degree in Composition at the Royal Higher Conservatory of Music “Victoria Eugenia” of Granada (Spain, 2019)

Current research project

My current artistic research project is called Barely Anything; Problematizing Socio-Temporal Logics through Sonic Underload. In this project, I aim at the creation of situations of sonic underload, that is, situations in which we may receive less than we expect in terms of sound. This artistic practice seeks to respond to a shared social preoccupation related to temporal perception. We currently live in a society where there is a primacy for speed in processes such as production, consumption, optimization, or connectivity. The pace and amount of information and stimuli we constantly receive create a continuous overloading and overfeeding that can hinder our perception of the world, its analysis, and the subsequent creation of our own principles to believe and rely on. It is my objective that, within a situation of sonic underload, listeners find a space where priorities change: things that have to be left apart in the context of the hurried everyday life become (temporarily) possible. Such is the case of reflecting, contemplating, or simply staying and resting. The utmost aim for the listener is to apply this approach to perception beyond my concerts, being able to encounter continuity, depth, and meaning in this hectic world.

Some more biographical stuff

My instrumental work has been internationally premiered by ensembles and orchestras, such as the Île-de-France National Orchestra, Orchester im Treppenhaus, Defunensemble, Vertixe Sonora, Ensemble Ascolta or Norrbotten NEO. On the other hand, my electroacoustic work has been developed at the Nordplus intensive course IMMEDIA 2021 in Vilnius (Lithuania), the MuteFest ’20 and ’22 at the Sibelius Academy (Finland), or the Festival of Contemporary Art of Granada’s University 2021 in collaboration with composer and researcher José López-Montes (Spain). I have participated in other important new music festivals in Europe such as Musiikin aika (Time of Music) 2023 in Viitasaari (Finland), the Academy of ManiFeste 2022 at the IRCAM in Paris (France), or the VI VANG series of CentroCentro in Madrid (Spain). My most recent recognition was the First Prize of the Young Composers Award organized by SGAE-CNDM in Madrid (November 2023), thanks to which I will be the resident composer of the Spanish Musical Youth Network (JME) during the 2024/25 season. I have collaborated as a co-teacher of the SuperCollider programming course organized by the Music Technology department of the Sibelius Academy since 2023. During 2023-24, I have also been invited by the Ulysses Network to join the Ulysses Journeys for young composers, attending composition courses at Viitasaari, Hamburg, and Barcelona. I am currently working on a text-based work (the so-called book), and sometimes I dust off my flute and my collage notebook.