Manuella Blackburn is an electroacoustic music composer who specializes in acousmatic music creation.

She studied music at The University of Manchester (England, UK) and completed a PhD in electroacoustic music composition with Ricardo Climent in 2010.

Her music focused 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.

Manuella Blackburn’s music has been performed at concerts, festivals, conferences and gallery exhibitions in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the USA.

Her acousmatic works have received a number of international awards and prizes including: Grand Prize in the Digital Art Awards (Fujisawa, Japan, 2007); First Prize in the 7th and 10th Concurso Internacional de Composição Electroacústica Música Viva (Lisbon, Portugal, 2006, ’09); First Prize in the Musica Nova International Competition of Electroacoustic Music (Prague, Czech Republic, 2014); International Computer Music Association European Regional Award (Australia, 2013); 3rd Prize in the Diffusion Competition (Ireland, 2008); Public Prize in the Concurso Internacional de Composição Eletroacústica (CEMJKO, Brazil, 2007); and Honorary Mentions in the Centro Mexicano para la Música y las Artes Sonoras (CMMAS) competition (Morelia, Mexico, 2008) and in the Concurso Internacional de Música Eletroacústica de São Paulo (CIMESP ’07, Brazil).

Manuella Blackburn is currently based at Keele University (England, UK) and is a Reader in Electronic Music and Sound Design.

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