Javier Muñoz Bravo, is a chilean composer interested in creating both instrumental and electronic music. His work catalog includes pieces for solo instruments, chamber music, ensemble, orchestra, as well as music for dance and cinema. He is inspired by nature phenomena such as chaotic processes or light behavior, but also by time flexibility and artificial intelligence in real-time electronic music.
He studied composition at the University of Chile with Andrés Maupoint, Cirilo Vila, Jorge Pepi-Alos, among others. After studying at the Strasbourg Conservatory with Mark André, he obtained a Master in Composition at the HEAR of Strasbourg with Philippe Manoury, Annette Schlünz, Tom Mays and Thierry Blondeau. He studied Ircam’s Cursus in composition and computer music with Héctor Parra and a Master in mixed composition at the HEM of Geneva with Michael Jarrell, Luis Naon and Eric Daubresse, while being in residence at the Cité international des Arts. He also followed master classes with Haspeter Kyburz, Miller Puckette, Georg Friedrich Haas, Yan Maresz, Philippe Leroux, José Manuel López-López, Martin Matalon, Luca Belcastro, Bruno Mantovani, Yann Robin, Johannes Maria Staud, Henry Fourès, Natasha Barrett, José Miguel Fernández, among others.
His works have been played at the Barcelona’s French Institut, Ai–maako Electroacoustic Festival (Chile), Contemporary Music Festival of the University of Chile, Contemporary Music Festival of Lima (Peru), 39th Festival des Musiques et Créations Electroniques de Bourges, Les nuits des Cathédrales and Exhibitronics Festival in Strasbourg, Futura (Crest, France), Bâle Conservatory, among others. He premiered at the Strasbourg Conservatory his “Messe électronique” (3D images and choreography by Juan-Francisco Duroure). In 2014, he presented a piece during two listening sessions of the collective “État latant” at Ircam and in Darmstadt (Germany), then as finalist at the France-Taiwan Acousmatic Composition Competition, and in Buenos Aires. During the 3rd World Forum for Democracy, he composed the music for the lighting of the Europe Council in Strasbourg with the collective AV-Exciters. He also participated in the 43rd Cervantino International Festival (Mexico) with the Vertebrae Ensemble. He presented several pieces at the Musica and SaxOpen festivals in Strasbourg & Yehudi Menuhin Forum in Bern with Andrés Castellani, and an orchestral piece with the Mitteldeutsche Kammerphilharmonie during the Impuls Festival (Bauhaus-Dessau, Germany). The Dela duo created one of his pieces in France and at the Singapore Saxophone Simposium 2017, as well as at the University of Melbourne, the Melbourne Recital Center and the Universities of Monash and Sydney.
He did a portrait concert at the Cité internationale des Arts in Paris with his pieces for saxophone performed by saxophonists Joseph Lallo, Olivier Duverger, Melinda Urh, soprano Claire Trouilloud and violist Antonin Le Faure.
Javier works with soloists from the Conservatoires of Paris, Lyon, and Hem Geneva, notably with violinist Aya Kono, during the Ircam Manifeste festival in Paris, the Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo (MonacoTech), and the Archipel festival in Geneva (Switzerland). In Geneva, he premieres a string quartet and electronics piece with the Ensemble Contrechamps, a work for ensemble and electronics with the Voxter Ensemble, and a composition for narrator, orchestra, and real-time electronics featuring French actress Isabelle Adjani as soloist with the Geneva Camerata orchestra. A second version of this piece was presented on Swiss Radio Television with the Haute École de Musique de Genève Orchestra, conducted by Pierre Bleuse.
He presented recent pieces during ensemble Sillages electr()cutions Festival in Brest with saxophonist Stéphane Sordet, at the Gennevilliers Conservatory in Paris with the ensemble Multilatérale under the direction of Léo Warynski & also with the ensemble 2e2m. In the context of ARCO binational university, association between the Mozarteum University Salzbourg et Gmem-Marseille, the ensembles Les Métaboles & Multilatérale have premiered one of their pieces at Gmem-Marseille under the direction of Léo Warynski.
Javier holds four creative residencies at the Cité internationale des arts de Paris and is awarded a scholarship of excellence from the Haute école des Arts du Rhin and the City of Strasbourg, as well as from the SACEM (French Copyright Society) on four occasions. Javier also obtains a scholarship from the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage of Chile. He received the Coupleux-Lassalle Foundation Award 2017, premiering a piece at the Format Raisin festival (France) with soprano Jeanne Crousaud and pianist Wilhem Latchoumia. Javier is awarded the composition prize Mega Jury 2017 in Buenos Aires. He obtains the ‘Writing Aid’ (ex commissioned by the state) from the French Ministry of Culture to compose a piece for immersive art. For this purpose Javier has been composer-in-residence at the International Puppetry Institute (Charleville-Mézières), in the Maillon theatre (Strasbourg) La Nef (Saint-Die-des Vosges), Gran Este Cultural Agency (Alsace) and Jardin Parallèle (Reims).
Javier composes the music of Or-là, a photosensitive and choreographic experience at the beginning of the appearance of the image, built around the device of the camera obscura by the association CINEMA ZERO. The team of the work is composed by Andrea Baglione (conception) / Madeleine Fournier (choreographer -performer) / Laura Ben Hayoun (photographer-performer) / Javier Munoz Bravo (sound creation) / Lucien Valle (light creation) / Aristeo Tordesillas (dramaturgy). This piece is supported by MONTÉVIDÉO (Marseille).
He also participates in the CD Guitarra+ of Chilean guitarist Andrés Gonzáles, thanks to a fund of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage of Chile. This work is presented at the IDKF festival in Stuttgart (Germany) and Atemporánea Buenos Aires.
SACEM also awarded him a writing fund to compose a work alongside the ensemble Resilience, which premiered at the Gaudeamus-Utrecht Festival in the Netherlands, and two writing funds for the dance piece, holograms, voice and electronics ThREE, with Swiss choreographer Stefanie Inhelder. With the same work, they were awarded the “Ici et Ailleurs” Artistic Research Grant by the French-speaking Commission for General Cultural Affairs of the Canton of Bern. With this composition, Javier and the Cie glitch (Stefanie Inhelder / choreographer and director, Javier Munoz /composition and musical informatics, Eric Larrieux / interaction, Stella Speziali / visuals, Lena Schmid / costume and scenography, Daniel Tschanz / lights, Thea Sôti / voice and performance, Anna Heinimann, Kuan-Ling Tsai, Laetitia Kohler, Pascale Altenburger / Dance) are in artistic residency at the ICST-Immersive Arts Space of ZHdK-Zürich (Air Residency), Dampfzentrale and Tanzhaus Berne, Südpol Luzern, Théâtre du Juras, Cité Internationale des Arts de Paris, Les Récollets Paris, among others. This immersive show will be performed at the Swiss Theatres of Nebia in Bienne, Jura in Delémont, Lokremise in St. Gallen and Immersive Arts Space – ZHdK Zurich.
His immersive piece “A Season in Metavers” for voice, avatar-video AI, motion capture and live electronics is created during the Electrocution festival 2024 of the Ensemble Sillages in Brest (France). This piece is a co-production by the Cie glitch, the Ensemble Sillages and the Carène Brest, with the support of the French Ministry of Culture (Aid to the writing of an original work – ex-state commission), the SACEM, the city of Biel, the Canton of Bern and the Immersive Arts Spaces – ZHdK Zurich. The team of the play was composed of Javier Munoz Bravo (composition, computer music, musical design, dramaturgy and scenography), Stefanie Inhelder (final staging and lights), Stella Speziali (visuals) and Claire Trouilloud (voice).
Javier won the Pulsar-Chile Awards as best classical music artist of the year 2022, also being nominated for this category in 2019.