Electronic Composer Mira Calix has Died, Aged 51

South African-British musician Chantal Francesca Passamonte was known professionally as Mira Calix. In 1991, she arrived in London to pursue her music career, according to The Guardian.

Calix began as a promoter and DJ while doing publicity for independent British record label Warp Records, before signing with them as one of their first female artists.

Since her 2000 debut and self-produced electronic album one on one, she began involving classical orchestration in her music. 

An experimental musician and sound artist, she collaborated with a wide range of global musicians, dancers, and artists, and in the classical field, with the London Sinfonietta, Ligeti Quartet, and Opera North. 

She was commissioned by and showcased internationally at The Royal Shakespeare Company, Carriageworks, MONA, Performa, the Barbican, Art Basel, Lincoln Center, the Coventry Biennial, Shakespeares Globe, Melbourne Recital Center, Sonar, Latitude Festival, Edinburgh Festival, and Manchester International festival, among others.

In 2009, Calix received accolades from the Royal Philharmonic Society and The Ivors Academy for her sound work My Secret Heart, which was staged at London’s Royal Festival Hall in 2008. She later created the sound sculpture Nothing is Set in Stone for the Cultural Olympiad – which ran alongside the 2012 London Olympics.

Calix recently premiered a new work commissioned by the Royal Northern Sinfonia and had opened a collaborative installation at London’s Francis Crick Institute gallery which will run until Spring 2022. 

“Terrible news to hear about Chantal aka Mira Calix passing away,” wrote electronic duo, Orbital, on Facebook. “I knew her from back in the early 90s doing gigs together…she had a great attitude to creativity. I will miss the sharp, inquisitive, warm, friendly person that she was.”

Our condolences to Mira Calix’s family, friends, and colleagues. 

MIRA CALIX | THERE IS ALWAYS A GIRL WITH A SECRET | 2021