Natasha Barrett works fore-mostly with composition and creative uses of sound. Her output spans concert composition through to sound-art, large sound-architectural installations, collaboration with experimental designers and scientists, acousmatic performance interpretation and more recently live electroacoustic improvisation. Whether writing for live performers or electroacoustic forces, the focus of this work stems from an acousmatic approach to sound, the aural images it can evoke and an interest in techniques that reveal detail the ear will normally miss. The spatio-musical potential of acousmatic sound features strongly in her work.

Barrett studied with Jonty Harrison (University of Birmingham, England, UK) and Denis Smalley (City University, London, England, UK) for masters and doctoral degrees in composition. Both degrees were funded by the humanities section of the British Academy.

Since 1999 Norway has been her compositional and research base for an international platform.

Natasha Barrett works are performed and commissioned throughout the world. Her installations have been set-up in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Australia. As a performer of acousmatic works she travels over the world to collaborate with loudspeaker orchestras, smaller diverse solutions, and sound-art projects.

Her composition has received numerous recognitions, most notably the Giga-Hertz-Preis (Karlsruhe, Germany, 2008), Nordic Council Music Prize (Scandinavia, 2006), Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Awards (France, 1995, ’98, 2001, ’06), Edvard Prize (Norway, 2004), Noroit-Léonce Petitot (Arras, France, 1998, 2002), 9th IREM (2002), Musica Nova (Prague, Czech Republic, 2001), Concurso Internacional de Música Eletroacústica de São Paulo (CIMESP ’01, Brazil), Concours SCRIME (France, 2000), Ciber@RT(Spain, 1999), Prix Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria, 1998), and Luigi Russolo Competition (Italy, 1995, ’98).

Her work is available on numerous recording labels, including Albedo, Aurora, Centaur, Elektron, empreintes DIGITALes, Euridice, Mnémosyne Musique Média, and +3dB.

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