Miriama Young

Dr Miriama Young is a dual-national New Zealand/Australian composer, sound artist and educator based at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (VCA & MCM). Miriama graduated with a B.A. in History and B.Mus. (1st Class Hons.) from Victoria University of Wellington (NZSM). In 2000 she pursued postgraduate work in the United States on a Fulbright Award, and gained her PhD in Music Composition at Princeton University (2007).

Young's output is diverse - from chamber ensembles to film music, interactive sound for dance, spoken sound art for radio, installations with live electronics & concert works for instrument/ electro-acoustics. She has released two sound-related iOS Apps: Hushabye and SyncSound.

Much of Young's work engages new technologies to explore direct physicality and sound (interactive installations such as Solstice Lamp for Vivid Sydney 2013); though spoken word (The Prime Cut; 1, 000 Kisses; Speak Volumes); using new technologies and bespoke hardware or software (The Grey Ghost, Chatterbox, Titlipur). She has written extensively for voice, including Zen Story for Scottish Opera) and art song (Inner Voices of Blue). Some work electronically manipulates the voice (The Point of Contact); or explores the sound of human absence (Speechless - The Polar Realm).

Complementing her creative output, research as a scholar examines the human voice & recording technology, and a monograph on this subject, Singing the Body Electric: The Human Voice and Sound Technology (Routledge) is listed in the "Times Higher Education Best Books, 2015".

The recipient of numerous awards, Miriama's instrumental and vocal works are performed and commissioned by ensembles stretching from Norway to New Zealand, iincluding performances by Scottish Opera, HD Duo, So Percussion, New Millennium Ensemble, Quey Percussion, the Nash Ensemble, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Stroma, the Yesaroun' Duo, Strike Percussion, and Now Ensemble, and Bang on a Can MassMoca. Her installations have featured at Vivid Sydney, New York City's Puffin Room and Gallery 138. Her music has featured on National Public Radio USA, National Radio NZ, Resonance FM London and ABC Australia. She has held artist residencies at Yaddo and MacDowell Colonies.