After the unforgettable editions of 2021 (MNAC-Sala Oval) and 2022 (Church of San Felipe Neri), Maria Arnal presents for the third consecutive year El Cant de Sibil·la, which combines the ancient voice of the prophetess with the cosmic date of the winter solstice. IDEAL Barcelona will host a cathartic ritual that offers the opportunity to rediscover ourselves, reveal ourselves and finally be reborn on the darkest day of the year.
MARIA ARNAL
She is one of the best known and most groundbreaking voices on the contemporary music scene in Spain. She lives in Barcelona and combines the songwriter’s facets of pop, electronic and traditional polyphonic music with projects that experiment with sound, technology and art. Together with Marcel Bagés, she has released two albums for which she has received more than a dozen awards, including the Ojo Crítico (RNE). She has performed at some of the most renowned festivals, such as the Sónar 2022 Festival, where she presented the show Hipertutopia with the Orfeón Catalán’s Girl’s Heart, and now solo on prestigious international stages, such as the TED Talks event in Vancouver 2023 and in Mexico City.
As a composer, she has collaborated on projects such as the sound piece AIR for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021 and SIRENA for the Hipermirador Torre Glòries 2022, a generative choral piece that responds in real time to Barcelona’s big data, both with producer John Talabot. Together with curator Jose Luis de Vicente, he is directing the sound essay Every Layer of the Atmosphere (CCCB 2022), which has been nominated for two ONDAS awards. He is currently researching the possibilities of synthetic voice models generated by artificial intelligence in a project with the Centro Nacional de Supercomputació and the CCCB, while producing his first solo album.
