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

• Doctoral candidate, Arts Study Programme, at DocMus Doctoral School of the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki (Finland, ongoing)
• Preparatory doctoral student at DocMus Doctoral School of the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki (Finland, 2024)
• Master of Music in Composition at the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki (Finland, 2022)
• 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 titled Nothing Much; Denormalizing Productivity through Sonic Underload, and my main objective is to investigate and question the current normalization of a culture of the overload. This kind of culture is characterized by overproduction, overconsumption, and the immediacy of optimization, being its main cause the productive behavior that is constantly promoted in a socio-economic system whose structural feature is systematic growth: we need to do more, quicker, and better (even though we generally don't know why). My hypothesis is that the main consequence of this is a lack of space to construct ourselves reflexively, that is, in a way that allows us to develop our own principles to decide what to think and how to act in consequence. In the face of this context, I will attempt to undergo such reflexive construction through the composition process, being the main strategy the use of an "unproductive" behavior as a creative tool in order to underload my creative language and bring about situations in which this space for reflection can be perhaps found. These situations will materialize in three doctoral concerts for solo performer, and the documentation of the creative process and its theoretical framework will be articulated in the form of a monograph dissertation and multimedia expositions.

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 am the current resident composer of the Spanish Musical Youth Network (JME) for the 2024/25 season. I also collaborate as a co-teacher of the SuperCollider programming workshop organized by the Music Technology department of the Sibelius Academy since 2023. During 2023-24, I have been invited by the Ulysses Network to join the Ulysses Journeys for Young Composers, attending composition courses in Viitasaari, Hamburg, and Barcelona, and in September 2024 I will visit Georgia Tech University in Atlanta as part of my participation in the program Spanish Young Music Talents organized by the cultural area of the Embassy of Spain in Washington DC. Lastly, from time to time, I dust off my extra-official text-based work (the so-called book), my flute, and my collage notebook.