MARIA ARNAL is one of the most recognisable and ground-braking voices on the Spanish contemporary music stage. Based in Barcelona, Arnal combines her pop, electronic, and traditional polyphonic music song-writing side with projects that experiment with sound, technology, and art. Together with Marcel Bagés, she has released two full-length albums that have earned her wide-spread recognition, including various awards such as Música Independiente, Premi Ciutat de Barcelona 2017, RTVE´s Ojo Crítico 2018, Premio Ruido 2022, and more. Arnal has performed at some of the most iconic festivals, including Festival Sónar 2022, where she presented Hiperutopía together with the l’Orfeó Català female choir, and has graced renowned international stages such as the TED Talk Vancouver 2023, among others.
As a composer, Arnal has contributed to projects crafted together with producer John Talabot, including the sound piece AIR for the 2021 Venice Biennale of Architecture, and SIRENA for the Hipermirador Torre Glòries 2022, a generative choir piece that reacts to Barcelona’s big data in real-time. Together with curator Jose Luis de Vicente, Arnal co-directed the Each Layer of the Atmosphere sound essay (CCCB) to connect sonic awareness with the climate emergency, which was nominated for two ONDAS awards (2023). In 2024, Maria presented CHOIR, an interactive installation with a synthetic reproduction of her voice, which was in collaboration with the BSC and Axolot, and presented as part of the AI:Artificial Intelligence exhibition (CCCB 2024). After having earned the AIR S+T+Arts grant (2024), Arnal is currently researching the possibilities of synthetic voice models generated with artificial intelligence in a project together with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, while also composing her next album to début as her first full-length solo effort.