Mira Calix

Mira Calix, ground-breaking composer, producer, multidisciplinary artist, has died ... Now we've lost Mira Calix, an artist whose music imagination spanned every ...

My condolences to everyone on this. Her long term agent, Mia shared these words: “You inspired everyone who knew you with your kindness, sensitivity and creativity. She will be terribly missed by everyone at the label, staff and artists alike.

The South Africa-born artist and IDM pioneer had a multi-disciplinary practice that spanned film, theater, and mixed-media installations.

She worked as a promoter and DJ while doing publicity for Warp, before becoming one of the first women to sign with the label as an artist. She would go on to put out six more albums and several EPs of various experimental styles and textures. “She pushed the boundaries between electronic music, classical music and art in a truly unique way.”

Producer, composer and artist Mira Calix has died, her label Warp has confirmed. She was 52. “We are devastated to learn about the death of our dear Mira ...

“We are so proud of her immense creative output; her artwork, videos and music were a true reflection of what an innovative, pioneering and wonderful soul she was”, it continued. She will be terribly missed by everyone at the label, staff and artists alike”. “We are devastated to learn about the death of our dear Mira Calix”, said the label.

The Warp Records producer and composer, who has died at 51, broke out of the album format to make immersive, haunting, deeply human works of sound art.

More recently, she worked hard to expose the effects of Brexit, and the horrors occurring in Ukraine, including on social media; her 2021 album, Absent Origin, was full of ideas that underlined her feminism and internationalism. She constantly championed women in music, including in her work with the Ivors Academy; she was also the driving force of the 2019 campaign the journalist Luke Turner and I worked on to save BBC Radio 3’s show Late Junction, working full-pelt to gather her many friends and collaborators from her career to the cause. That experience made her think about how public art is often characterised as inaccessible, she told me – in what I’d come to discover was her always open-hearted, accessible manner – when public art often is anything but. A year later, she created the first ever public artwork in Nanjing, China: Moving Museum 35, a mixed-media sound artwork on a commuter bus. The woman – in her 90s – said it was the most amazing thing she’d experienced in her whole life. Calix’s first major work was an orchestral version of 2002’s NuNu, which she premiered with the London Sinfonietta a year later, before touring it internationally.

Tributes pour in for the Warp Records artist, who has died.

I’m devastated to hear of the passing of wonderful #miracalix She was a brilliant composer who often sent me supportive and thoughtful messages. We shared a lot of views as both musicians and campaigners for the rights of migrants. So sad to read about the passing of my old friend Chantal, otherwise known as Mira Calix on @WarpRecords - we met when she was producing music nights back in the early 1990s electronica scene and were friends ever since. Terribly sad news about Mira Calix. I was a huge fan of her music. “I delivered it on time, people seemed to like it and then another offer came and… That was the cheapest way I could think of doing it. Around about the time of Eyes Set Against The Sun [her 2007 album for Warp], I got a call from someone who wanted me to write something for a dance-theatre piece. “But that’s the beauty of this electronic and digital age. The whole idea of me making music and being signed to Warp was… Discussing her creative workflow in the same interview, Calix said: “I’ve never aimed for a certain style or genre. When people move around the stone, it will subtly affect a series of sensors and that will alter what they hear. Born in South Africa, Calix was based in London, and received plaudits for both her albums and installations.

Acclaimed producer, composer, and multi-disciplinary artist Mira Calix has died, her label Warp Records has confirmed. She was 52 years old.

So sad to read about the passing of my old friend Chantal, otherwise known as Mira Calix on@WarpRecords– we met when she was producing music nights back in the early 1990s electronica scene and were friends ever since. The darkness continues. — LoneLady (@LoneLadyHQ)March 28, 2022 — DJ Food (@djfood)March 28, 2022 She was an amazing artist who had a huge impact on me personally in ways she probably never knew. — Daniel Pemberton (@DANIELPEMBERTON)March 28, 2022 — Gwenno (@gwennosaunders)March 28, 2022 Condolences to all of Mira’s friends and family. a terrible loss of an incredible talent. always questioning, always pushing..” — maryanne hobbs (@maryannehobbs)March 28, 2022 — Warp Records (@WarpRecords)March 28, 2022

Acclaimed British / South African musician Mira Calix has passed away. She was 51 years old. Her work branched across many genres.

She created sounds for art installations and worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company making scores for their theatrical works. She first worked as a publicist at Warp promoting club nights and working as a DJ. While she came from clubland her music branched out into neo-classical, ambient and noise. Signed to the influential Warp label, Calix was noted for experimental music that drew on a wide range of influences.