Gilgamesh International Music Festival 2025

Gilgamesh Arts & Culture Foundation is thrilled to announce the official festival program, featuring bold and diverse electronic music compositions gathered from leading artists worldwide.

Stephen de Filippo

Spectral Breathing Apparatu

Program note: Born out of a long-distance collaborative relationship between Niamh Dell and Stephen de Filippo, Spectral Breathing Apparatus explores the amplification of liminal sounds produced by the oboe with the removal of the reed — where tiny squeaks and breath sounds are brought to the fore. The work explores how these sounds, which are unstable and without a definite pitch, can create novel textures that then exist and interact within the simulated spaces produced by the fixed media. Niamh traverses through sonic environments: some which evoke a glitchy chaotic energy, others that hint at a more natural space. Niamh’s breath, at times, is channeled through the instrument, but also against, as such the oboe itself is presented as an apparatus that both enhances and restricts the quality of her breath.

Stephen de Filippo is an Australian composer and multimedia artist based between Dubai and San Diego, where he is Assistant Professor of Music at the Canadian University of Dubai and a PhD candidate in Music Composition at the University of California, San Diego. His work blends field recording, performance, and multimedia to explore place, memory, and cultural identity. He has presented projects across the United States, Slovenia, and Australia, collaborating with musicians, festivals, and communities to create site-responsive works that connect audiences with their environments. His practice spans chamber music, sound installations, and interdisciplinary collaborations, often combining acoustic performance with environmental sound and visual components. Central to his approach is a process of listening, collecting, and reshaping sound as a form of journalling and presence.

Panayiotis Kokoras

Fantastic Carousel

Program Note: Fantastic Carousel features a rotating, electromechanical hyper-pan flute constructed from straws, PVC tubes, and bottles. Driven by a motorized system and powered by a precision-controlled air compressor, the instrument generates evolving textures through real-time airflow modulation. Inspired by carousel motion and built using the principles of Fab Synthesis—a method merging acoustic sound with mechanical control—the piece creates immersive, dynamic soundscapes. Combining machine precision with human shaping, Fantastic Carousel blurs the line between instrument and sculpture, offering a new model for kinetic sound generation and performance.

Panayiotis Kokoras is an internationally award-winning composer and computer music innovator, currently Regents Professor and CEMI Director at the University of North Texas. Born in Greece (1974), he studied composition and classical guitar in Athens and later earned his MA and PhD from the University of York, UK. His concept of “Holophonic Musical Texture” focuses on sound as the primary element of form, integrating acoustic and electronic composition. Kokoras’s works have been performed in over 1,200 concerts worldwide, winning 98 awards and being selected in 350 international calls for music. He has received commissions from the Guggenheim Foundation, Fromm Music Foundation, IRCAM, and others. As President of the International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music (ICEM), he advocates electroacoustic music globally. His research spans spatial sound, machine listening, and tactile sound. His compositions appear on 56 album compilations. More at www.panayiotiskokoras.com.

Soheil Zarrinpour

Trapped Wind

Program Note: Using SuperCollider’s diverse audio programming tools, this piece realizes the concept of trapped wind through dynamic patterns on a custom synth. The synthesizer employs resonators, comb filters, and various UGens to craft evolving textures. A task-based scheduler governs the piece’s progression, functioning like a traditional score where each moment is precisely determined. Innovative interactions organize and modulate parameters across multiple patterns, fostering cohesion and unity throughout the entire composition. Subtle shifts in timbre and rhythm reflect the unseen force of trapped wind releasing tension. Overall, the work demonstrates how structured algorithmic control in SuperCollider can produce rich, engaging electronic soundscapes.

Soheil Zarrinpour, from Iran, born in 1997, began studying piano at fifteen and studied piano performance at the Tehran University of Art. Initially, his compositions included acoustic works, such as piano and flute duets and wind quintets, before shifting his creative interests toward electronic music, exploring synthesis techniques and digital sound design. He is interested in audio programming, using Csound and SuperCollider for his works. He is enrolled in the Master of Music program in Composition at the University of Alabama, where he continues to refine his compositional voice and develop works that integrate acoustic instruments with electronic elements.

Bracha Bdil

Movement of the Soul—UrbaNature

Program Note: Stuck in traffic jam, movement of many people, automaton-people-, moving mechanically, beeping at you. But in these carts there are souls, working and sensitiv, really? How did the automaton cover the soul, how do the achievements cover the breathing, Measuring all day competition and bravado. When will we release the cover? Then we will find movement, The Soul. The word “UrbaNature” for stereo sound-track is trying to express the ideal of natural life which is dulled by the forced reality of an urban-technological world.

Bracha Bdil (1988) is an Israeli-British composer, conductor, and pianist, winner of the Prime Minister’s Award for Composition (Israel, 2022) and the ACUM Award (2019). Her repertoire spans different mediums including orchestral music, chamber, vocal and electronic music.
Bracha’s compositions have won several first prizes ;in Israel, UK, Russia, China, Germany, Romania, Serbia, Belarus, Cuba and more. And with her composition Yizkerem, for a-cappella choir, she represented Israel at the Asian Composers League Festival, Taiwan (2018).
Bracha Bdil is a member of the Israel Composers’ League, her works are broadcast on the Israel Radio Voice of Music program and published by the Israel Music Institute and ICL.
Beginning in the fall of 2018, Bracha became the artistic director and chief conductor of the Zmora Women’s Orchestra in Jerusalem

Bruno Belardi

Antropocene

Program Note: What will be the future of humanity in a world we have irreparably altered? Human actions, violent and hysterical, take without giving anything in return. Rapid human progress has left a trail of destruction, a planet exploited beyond its limits. I sought to imagine and represent this chaos, where every sound is a call to the reality of a world in crisis, a world in which all eras eventually come to an end.

Bruno Belardi is a musician and composer from Naples. He studies Classical Double Bass and continues his journey in Electronic Music under the guidance of Elio Martusciello at the “San Pietro a Majella” Conservatory in Naples. Currently, he is engaged in international concert activities as a member of Ars Nova Napoli. His acousmatic works are beginning to receive initial recognition, including being selected as a finalist for MA/IN 2024, Musicacoustica Hangzhou (China) 2024, Soundcinema Dusseldorf (Germany) 2024, Landscape 2024 (Italy) 2024.

Fabio De Sanctis De Benedictis

Al disopra dimorano gli uccelli del cielo, cantano tra le fronde

Program Note: Quadraphonic electroacoustic piece, presented here in stereo. The title, taken from Psalm 103, indicates the origin of the material used: real or computer-generated bird songs, in a game of ambiguity and exchange between the natural and the artificial. These animals have always been regarded as messengers of the gods. The form, articulated in five stages, thus proposes a journey from the concrete to the abstract, from the real to the metaphysical. The whole was composed using only non-proprietary software.

Fabio De Sanctis De Benedictis teaches composition and music analysis at the Conservatory of Livorno (Italy). He specialised in composition with Giacomo Manzoni. His works have been performed in Europe, Latin America and the USA by Giuseppe Giuliano, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Daniel Kientzy, Gianpaolo Antongirolami, Nicola Baroni and others. He has been published by Diastema, Ircam, Ars Publica, Cero Records, Pig Bristle, Nova-Musica. A researcher in the field of computer-aided composition, he is the author of a software library for OpenMusic.

Alireza Seyedi

Percentile 10th

Program Note: The piece began with a single, evocative word: “Scale”. For several days, I intensified the ambient sounds around me through headphones, creating a sonic microscope that magnified even the most mundane of noises. The simple act of a bird flapping its wings became a source of intense anxiety, and the chirping of sparrows outside my window became gratingly unpleasant. The foundational material for this composition was exclusively derived from field recordings of my immediate environment, subjected to numerous layers of synthetic processing. While I initially found common ground with Pierre Schaeffer and the classical musique concrète movement, my artistic trajectory diverged from their foundational principles. My primary compositional focus was on granular synthesis. I began by working with large-scale sound structures, gradually decomposing them into increasingly minute granular components. This process of sonic reduction allowed me to explore the microscopic textures and temporal nuances inherent within the original recordings.

Alireza Seyedi was born in November 2001 and belongs to the new generation of contemporary music in Iran. Traces of traditional music and the music of the regions of Iran that have been dissolved in the context of contemporary music can be traced in his works. This presence is sometimes clear and tangible and sometimes abstract and deeper. The influence of electronic music has always been clear in his works. Whether it was when electronics were present or when it was simply inspired by that music composition culture. Seyedi’s music is a captivating fusion of tradition and modernity, reflecting his rich cultural heritage and artistic exploration. His artistic practice involves a deep exploration of sound, technology and cultural identity. His work has been featured at various festivals like Horizon Etendu Composition Academy full scholarship, Ensemble Musikfabrik Academy full scholarship, Spectro New Music Center Competition (Unerhörte Musik in Berlin Concert), Tehran international electronic music festival (Tiemf 2024), Semaine Internationale de la Musique Électroacoustique & de la Créativité (Simec 2024), Contemporary Music Laboratory at the European University Cyprus, Cultura & Sustentabilidade 2024 – Projecto DME, Radiophrenia Glasgow 2025, Nice International Music festival and academy (Nimfa 2025), On Air On Site 2025, Reza Korourian Awards 2025

Andrew Watts

Program Note

Program Note: The interlude movement uses a Chua circuit—a chaotic electronic oscillator that never repeats—as its compositional model. 36,000 data points were scaled in Max/MSP, converted to MIDI, and recorded through Max4Live in Ableton. For visuals, Jasper AI generated 14 abstract images that were resubmitted for further generation. Unexpectedly, the AI began interpreting abstract forms as human-like figures without prompting—a digital Rorschach effect from its training data. These images were expanded to 4K using Photoshop’s generative AI, then displayed via Max/MSP at 25fps using drunk walk algorithms triggered by audio transients. The result creates mysterious flickers questioning perception.

Andrew A. Watts is a composer whose chamber, symphonic, multimedia, and electro-acoustic works are performed worldwide. His music has been premiered at prestigious venues such as Burning Man, Ravinia, Boston’s Jordan Hall, and the Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt. He has collaborated with leading ensembles including Ensemble Dal Niente, Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble, and Proton Bern. His recent work, A Strobe Fractures Obsidian Night (2024), features AI-generated video and multichannel audio.

Watts’s music explores the expressive ramifications of technology and the post-human, often incorporating invented instruments, microtonality, and gradients between sound and noise. He holds a doctorate from Stanford University, a master’s from Oxford University, and a bachelor’s from the New England Conservatory. He is currently on the Music Composition faculty at UC Santa Barbara’s College of Creative Studies and is an affiliate faculty in the Mellichamp Initiative in Mind & Machine Intelligence.

Cristian Gabriele Argento

Odradek

Program Note: In the Arctic region of Raudfjorden, on a pebble strewn beach stands a small, crude wooden cabin. It’s said that on the same site stood an earlier cabin once inhabited by a lone trapper seeking refuge in the fjord after a terrible mining accident left him disfigured. As I stood in
the hut, peering out through one of the many cracks that made-up a wall, I wondered what it must have been like, both for the trapper and others like him who chose to live in such climatically extreme isolation.

Daniel is an Australian composer, sound and new media artist currently residing in
Sydney. He has worked in a variety of creative, academic, research and teaching contexts, and is currently lecturer in composition and music technology at the Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney. He is an ardent location field recordist, where he has embarked
upon a growing number of recording expeditions throughout Africa, Alaska, Amazon,
Australia, Cuba, West Indies, Mexico, Madagascar, Middle East, Northern Europe, and
the high Arctic/ North Pole. His creative works have received numerous international and national composition awards. More information can be found www.danielblinkhorn.com

Joseph Klein

Gorge Dweller

Program Note: “Gorge Dweller” is part of a collection of poetry settings with multi-channel electroacoustic music titled Cornell Set, which was commissioned by the Creative Writing Program and the Department of English at Cornell University. The poem is by Tsénahabiłnii poet Tacey M. Atsitty and the computer music is based entirely on a recording of the text, as read by the poet. The recursive and modular construction of the poem is reflected in the musical materials, which are intended to provide a sonic environment for the evocative imagery of the text.

Born in Los Angeles in 1962, Joseph Klein is a composer of solo, chamber, and large ensemble works, including instrumental, vocal, electroacoustic, and intermedia compositions. His music—which has been described as “a dizzying euphoria… like a sonic tickling with counterpoint gone awry” (NewMusicBox) and exhibiting a “confident polyvalence [that] heightens its very real excitement” (The Wire)—reflects an ongoing interest in processes drawn from such sources as fractal geometry, chaos, and systems theory, often inspired by natural phenomena. His works are often based on literary sources and frequently incorporate theatrical elements, either as an extension of the extra-musical references or as an organic expression of the musical narrative itself. Klein holds degrees from Indiana University and the University of California, San Diego, and currently serves as Distinguished Teaching Professor and Chair of Composition Studies at the University of North Texas.

Jaime Reis

Corpos Sonoros I: reencarnação [Sound Bodies I: Reincarnation]

Program Note: The Corpos Sonoros (Sound Bodies) cycle draws from the works of P. Schaeffer, F. Bayle, A. Vande Gorne, Harry Partch, the Baschet brothers, and other proponents of concepts related to sound, sculptural objects, and gesture. It emerged from a pedagogical and community creation project —musical instruments were created using recycled materials (objet trouvé) and constructed according to principles of sound material creation proposed by Pierre Schaeffer, related to his concept of the “sound body.” Through improvisation processes and recording sessions using the aforementioned sculptural objects, thousands of sound objects that reincarnate the gestures, movements, and states of energy from which the communal idios emerges. It’s dedicated to the everyday people in society, the unsung heroes of daily life.

Jaime Reis is a Portuguese composer who studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen and with Emmanuel Nunes, after studying Composition and Electronic Music with J.P.Oliveira. He is the founder and artistic director of Projecto DME (since 2003) and of Lisboa Incomum (since 2017). His music, both instrumental and electroacoustic, has been performed in over 20 countries. He has worked with institutions/ensembles such as ZKM, IRCAM, Musik Fabrik, The Vienna Acousmatic Project, Aleph Guitar Quartet, Musiques & Recherches.
He is a Professor of composition and electronic music at the Lisbon College of Music (ESML).

Jellal Koay

oMGgggG h0W dAR3 yo0ouUwUu!!!!!1!

Program Note: This piece is largely created out of two things – the audio sample of Greta Thunberg exclaiming “How dare you!” in her famous speech at the United Nations Climate Change Summit, a sample of my senior laughing hysterically. The composition that resulted was unpredictable and overwhelming with energy, created out of a maximalist approach of dealing with material. This piece attempts to find a delicate balance between having the audience listening through a perceptual bombardment of materials––albeit the timbres and the energy bounds all contrasting materials together––and avoiding the audience from totally turning off from the auditory experience.

Koay Loong Chuen (better known as Jellal Koay, b. 2001) is a Malaysian composer whose works mainly attempt to craft multifaceted experiences through complexity. Interested in the potential of creating paradoxical states by challenging the limits of conscious perception, his current musical pursuits explore the possibilities of subconscious perception in music by overloading perception through the complicated interweaving of musical information. HIs works have been showcased in Malaysia, Singapore, Italy, Germany and USA. Jellal is currently studying at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore. His composition mentors include Peter Ivan Edwards, Wong Chee Wei and Adeline Wong.

Daniel Blinkhorn

frostByte – redsound

Daniel is an Australian composer and new media artist who works extensively with environmental sound. He has worked in a variety of creative, academic, research and teaching contexts, and is currently lecturer in composition and music technology at the Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney. He is an ardent location field recordist, where he has embarked upon a growing number of recording expeditions throughout Africa, Alaska, Amazon, Australia, Cuba, West Indies, Mexico, Madagascar, Middle East, Northern Europe, and the high Arctic/ North Pole region of Svalbard. His creative works have received a number of awards at important international composition competitions, and whilst entirely self-taught in environmental sound, electroacoustic music and sound art, Daniel has formally studied composition and the creative arts at a number of Australian universities. More information on the composer can be found at: danielblinkhorn.com

Mahan Shishehchi

Woven in shadows

Program Note: This piece is a nostalgic reflection on sounds from the past—sounds that surrounded me as a child. It opens with the recorder from my Orff classes and the sound of my father practicing the tar and setar at home. Gradually, the violin takes the lead, bowing on the setar to create a bridge between past and present, while recalling earlier instruments. At its climax, a reversed recording of my father saying “What do you want me to play?” emerges. In the end, the opening motifs return as a faded but vivid memory. My father’s voice was captured accidentally during recording.

I am Mahan Shishechi, born in 2000. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Tehran and am currently a Master’s student in Composition at the same university. I ranked first in Iran’s national entrance exam for music graduate studies. I have been playing the violin since the age of seven and received second place in the Youth Music Festival. I perform with the Mitra Orchestra and teach violin and solfège. Recently, I’ve become interested in electronic music and have started exploring and learning it as a new creative direction.

Enrico Francioni

RE-WORD-LUTIONS

Program Note: In my piece I used only concrete material belonging to the category of speech and vowel sounds taken from famous historical documents, the 40s, 50s and 60s. RE-WORD-LUTIONS is divided into five sections, which come to life from as many audio testimonies that are interesting for their meaning of content, for the obvious contrast they create when they are compared, for the oral style, for the register used, as well as for the beauty and liveliness of the spoken sound. The object of the work consists of this material, but without giving up processing techniques such as: decontextualization, transformation, hybridization, subrogation action, or unchanged re-presentation.

Enrico Francioni graduated in Electronic Music and Double bass and at the Rossini Conservatory (Italy). Among his masters: for electronic music E.Giordani, in addition to following the masterclasses by Branchi, Chadabe, Chowning, Roads and Vidolin, for the double bass F.Grillo. He is the author of code for the App SOLO dedicated to the work of Stockhausen. Awarded in composition competitions: Carella, Città Pavia, AGIMUS, Manoni, Le note ritrovate, DI_stanze, Amici Musica Cagliari. His electronic works selected at: C.I.M., EMUFest, ICMC, Estudio Musica Electroacustica, Berklee College, Acusmatiq 9.0, ICSC, NYCEMF, SMC_torino, SIIDS, REF-REsilience, Sonosfera, Angelica, SAG, Foro Música Nueva, Area Sismica, (Pro)Stranstvo…

Manuella Blackburn

Home Truths

Program Note: Interruptions dominate this composition, acting as pauses, abrupt stops, moments cut short and held breaths. These moments represent the many interruptions experienced in my daily life, in work, activities and composing. Interruptions are temporal states where continuity is ceased but then resumed or returned to after the interrupting event is over. In this work, interruptions are positioned as the main event; acting as focal points and instances to explore the creative potential of these typically unwanted occurrences. There are many different types of interruptions constructed throughout the composition

Manuella Blackburn is an electroacoustic music composer who specializes in acousmatic music creation. Her music focuses on intricate details and the clustering and careful arrangement of small sounds within clear, polished sound worlds. Her sound recording of everyday objects, environments and instruments make their way into new pieces through the transformation of the ordinary into the fantastical.

SiHyun Uhm

Miniscope Multimedia Project

Program Note: This multimedia work explores neural activity through the integration of neuroscience and art. By processing calcium imaging data from the hippocampus CA1 and retrosplenial cortex (RSC) of a mouse brain, the project transforms complex brain functions into dynamic audio-visual experiences. Utilizing TouchDesigner, neural data is visualized in real time, with calcium traces influencing the movement, size, and shape of visual elements. The soundscape is similarly shaped by Max MSP, where the same neural data informs musical composition, manipulating filters and dynamics to create an immersive auditory experience. Additional musical layers are composed in Logic Pro, interacting continuously with the visuals to form a feedback loop that enhances the overall presentation. This work reveals the intricate relationships between brain activity, sound, and visual art, showcasing the potential of interdisciplinary collaboration in understanding and expressing the complexities of the brain.

SiHyun Uhm is a composer, pianist, and multimedia artist based in Los Angeles and South Korea. She has been commissioned by institutions such as National Sawdust, New Music USA, Yamaha, and the U.S. Air Force Academy Band. Her work spans classical, electronic, and film music, earning fellowships from the American Composers Orchestra and Nashville Symphony. Currently a Ph.D. student at UCLA, SiHyun integrates neuroscience into multimedia art using tools like Miniscope. Recent projects focus on endangered animals and conservation. Her music has been featured by KEAMS, CEAM, and MOXsonic. She holds degrees from Eastman, Juilliard, and Walnut Hill.

Luis Quintana

Aguanilé

Program Note: In Santeria, an Afro-American religion from the Yoruba, aguanilé is the spiritual cleansing of a place, often with water. Imagined as a study of the exploration of the saxophone’s percussive sounds (certain are reminiscent of “aquatic sounds”), Aguanilé refers to the rhythmic, dancing, magic spirit associated with this religious tradition.

Luis Quintana is an internationally prized composer who develops his work in the field of contemporary music, extending the frontiers of his musical universe from instrumental music to acousmatic pieces and immersive sound installations. His work has been showcased all over the world and performed by ensembles like Ensemble Intercontemporain, L’Instant Donné, Studio for New Music Ensemble, Illinois Modern Ensemble; as well as Festival Manifest, the Born Creative festival in Japan… He has also been the recipient of several international awards, most recently the composition prize from the Académie des beaux-arts in France (2022) and a 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship.

Nicola Monopoli

The Rite of Judgment

Program Note: ‘The Rite of Judgment’ is the inner response to a judgment given or received. The piece is characterized by many textures and complex rhythms. The vocal parts, which form the basis of the piece itself, are generally hidden, but occasionally emerge to dominate the musical plot of the composition. They represent the inner voice, a dark voice
located within the ego, the voice that judges you. The title of the piece is a tribute to Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’. “What happens to someone who is judged or who judges? … and how would you react if
an AI were to judge you?”

Nicola Monopoli is an Italian composer born in Barletta in 1991.
He received a Bachelor’s in Music and New Technologies with honors and mention, a Master’s in Electronic Music with honors, and graduated in Composition with full marks from ‘N. Piccinni’ Conservatory in Bari.
He was the first to earn the Artist Diploma in Composition from the Royal College of Music in London, supported by a Clifton Parker Award and a scholarship from Giovani Artisti Italiani, Project DE.MO./Movin’Up.
His works have been performed internationally (Italy, France, Germany, Australia, England, Ireland, Norway, Greece, Russia, USA, Spain, Japan, etc.) in major electroacoustic and contemporary music festivals, including De Montfort University SSSP, SICMF, NYCEMF, Stanford LAC, Emufest, and more.
He won first prize at the Golden Key Composition Competition 2015 (USA), third prize in Musicworks Magazine Competition 2011 (Canada), a Mention at Piars Award 2013, and was a finalist at the Italian National Prize of the Arts 2012 (Acousmatic Category).
He currently teaches Electroacoustic Composition and coordinates the PhD in Electroacoustic Composition, Sonic Arts, and Intermedia Applications at the ‘U. Giordano’ Conservatory in Foggia.