Since her breakthrough album Patterns of Consciousness (Important Records, 2017), Italian composer Caterina Barbieri has worked with vivid modular synthesis and expanded electro-acoustic formats to explore the physical and metaphysical effects of sound on the listener.
Her music, described by Pitchfork as “a mind-altering journey” and “a dreammachine for the ears”, investigates the creative potential of computation and complex generative techniques to explore themes related to memory, time and phenomenology of perception, often interrogating states of trance, altered consciousness and emotional intensity.
Barbieri’s albums have been met with growing critical acclaim: the razor-sharp contemplations of Ecstatic Computation (Editions Mego, 2019) where Barbieri “bends time and space around her” (Pitchfork), named as one of the best albums of the year by many international critical magazines; then Spirit Exit (light-years, 2022) which incorporates a bigger universe of sound: monumental and intimate, unerringly futuristic yet capable of evoking deep primeval energy, described by NPR as “deeply psychedelic and, by extension, subversive”; then Myuthafoo (light-years, 2023) “an instrumental set of controlled abandon and rapturous minimalism” (Pitchfork), recorded at the same time as Ecstatic Computation and based on the same generative techniques developed on the ER-101 modular sequencer.
However, Barbieri’s probing electronics have never been confined by the album format. Her practice, informed by an education in classical guitar and electro-acoustic composition at the Conservatory of Bologna and Stockholm’s famed center for sound art, Elektronmusikstudion - where she recorded her first album “Vertical” (Important Records, 2014) for Buchla 200 and voice - relies on live performance as means of compositional development, as if it were a “living organism”, where sound is often in dialogue with light and video to create intense multi-sensorial experiences.
In 2012 she earned her diploma in classical guitar with Walter Zanetti at the Conservatorio G.B. Martini in Bologna, where in 2014 she also earned a diploma in electroacoustic composition with Francesco Giomi after studying at the Royal College of Music and the Elektronmusikstudion in Stockholm. In 2015 she earned a degree in Modern Literature at the University of Bologna with a thesis in Ethnomusicology on the relationship between American minimalism and Hindustani classical music.
In just a few short years Barbieri has performed at a slew of the world’s most respected music festivals, from Unsound and Atonal to Primavera Sound and Sonar, and has presented her work at prestigious venues including London's Barbican Centre, Biennale di Venezia, IRCAM and INA GRM, Berliner Festspiele, Haus Der Kunst in Münich, Mexico City’s Museo Anahuacalli, Ruhrtriennale, Philharmonie de Paris and Festival de Cannes, among many others.
In 2021, Barbieri founded her own label light-years, creating not only a home for her own music but a platform for kindred, avant-garde spirits, focused on deep listening and the transformative power of music. As part of light-years, she has been invited to curate showcases by venues such as Pompidou, Southbank Centre and Berlin Atonal.
2022’s Spirit Exit full artistic vision was realised across a series of ambitious live performances in collaboration with visual artist Ruben Spini and lighting designer and scenographer Marcel Weber, where digital projection, fabric, and fog are meticulously arranged to create an immersive journey, one in which Barbieri and her iridescent music appeared to exist at the threshold of a new dawn.
In 2024, Barbieri participated in the Venice Art Biennale with a music piece co-composed with Kali Malone for the Italian Pavilion and she has recently premiered her new work Womb in Paris, commissioned by IRCAM and Centre Pompidou for the 350 loudspeaker system at ESPRO.
She has been recently appointed as Artistic Director for the Venice Music Biennale. In 2025, she composed the sound installation “Nest of Silence” for the garden of the Italian Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka on invitation of La Biennale di Venezia.
Her music, described by Pitchfork as “a mind-altering journey” and “a dreammachine for the ears”, investigates the creative potential of computation and complex generative techniques to explore themes related to memory, time and phenomenology of perception, often interrogating states of trance, altered consciousness and emotional intensity.
Barbieri’s albums have been met with growing critical acclaim: the razor-sharp contemplations of Ecstatic Computation (Editions Mego, 2019) where Barbieri “bends time and space around her” (Pitchfork), named as one of the best albums of the year by many international critical magazines; then Spirit Exit (light-years, 2022) which incorporates a bigger universe of sound: monumental and intimate, unerringly futuristic yet capable of evoking deep primeval energy, described by NPR as “deeply psychedelic and, by extension, subversive”; then Myuthafoo (light-years, 2023) “an instrumental set of controlled abandon and rapturous minimalism” (Pitchfork), recorded at the same time as Ecstatic Computation and based on the same generative techniques developed on the ER-101 modular sequencer.
However, Barbieri’s probing electronics have never been confined by the album format. Her practice, informed by an education in classical guitar and electro-acoustic composition at the Conservatory of Bologna and Stockholm’s famed center for sound art, Elektronmusikstudion - where she recorded her first album “Vertical” (Important Records, 2014) for Buchla 200 and voice - relies on live performance as means of compositional development, as if it were a “living organism”, where sound is often in dialogue with light and video to create intense multi-sensorial experiences.
In 2012 she earned her diploma in classical guitar with Walter Zanetti at the Conservatorio G.B. Martini in Bologna, where in 2014 she also earned a diploma in electroacoustic composition with Francesco Giomi after studying at the Royal College of Music and the Elektronmusikstudion in Stockholm. In 2015 she earned a degree in Modern Literature at the University of Bologna with a thesis in Ethnomusicology on the relationship between American minimalism and Hindustani classical music.
In just a few short years Barbieri has performed at a slew of the world’s most respected music festivals, from Unsound and Atonal to Primavera Sound and Sonar, and has presented her work at prestigious venues including London's Barbican Centre, Biennale di Venezia, IRCAM and INA GRM, Berliner Festspiele, Haus Der Kunst in Münich, Mexico City’s Museo Anahuacalli, Ruhrtriennale, Philharmonie de Paris and Festival de Cannes, among many others.
In 2021, Barbieri founded her own label light-years, creating not only a home for her own music but a platform for kindred, avant-garde spirits, focused on deep listening and the transformative power of music. As part of light-years, she has been invited to curate showcases by venues such as Pompidou, Southbank Centre and Berlin Atonal.
2022’s Spirit Exit full artistic vision was realised across a series of ambitious live performances in collaboration with visual artist Ruben Spini and lighting designer and scenographer Marcel Weber, where digital projection, fabric, and fog are meticulously arranged to create an immersive journey, one in which Barbieri and her iridescent music appeared to exist at the threshold of a new dawn.
In 2024, Barbieri participated in the Venice Art Biennale with a music piece co-composed with Kali Malone for the Italian Pavilion and she has recently premiered her new work Womb in Paris, commissioned by IRCAM and Centre Pompidou for the 350 loudspeaker system at ESPRO.
She has been recently appointed as Artistic Director for the Venice Music Biennale. In 2025, she composed the sound installation “Nest of Silence” for the garden of the Italian Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka on invitation of La Biennale di Venezia.
Photography by Igor Pjört
