Mia Zabelka is an internationally acclaimed violinist, composer, and sound artist. Classically trained from an early age, she has expanded the traditional boundaries of the violin as a solo and ensemble instrument through her pioneering work in free improvisation, experimental music, and sound art.

Zabelka is considered to be a leading figure in the global scene of electroacoustic music, known for her innovative and boundary-pushing approach to sound, incorporating elements of noise, drone and improvisation into her compositions. Her performances involve the use of extended techniques on the violin, custom-built electronics, and a range of other unconventional methods to create unique and immersive sonic experiences.

Central to Mia Zabelka’s practice is interdisciplinary research, particularly at the intersection of music and science. She describes her distinctive artistic approach as “Multiversal Music” through which she translates the structural processes of atoms into sound, making them perceptible within the auditory domain. These audible representations of atomic processes reveal the shared physical and chemical foundations underlying humans, nature, and technology. The sonification of atomic-scale phenomena can be understood as a method for making otherwise inaccessible structures and orders perceptible.In this context, such practices suggest the possibility of non-biological forms of life—forms not necessarily carbon-based and potentially organized according to alternative physical or operational principles. “Atomic Sounds” can reveal patterns, anomalies, and structures within quantum data that align with multiverse hypotheses.

Mia Zabelka plays an acoustic violin by Josef Růžička and electric violins by 3Dvarius and Zeta Systems. Her production and live setup includes hardware from Universal Audio, Faderfox, Pioneer and Allen & Heath, as well as various electronic devices. Software tools include Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Max/MSP, OMax, CatArt, and multiple DAWs. Her sound is further shaped using a range of amplifiers, microphones, and pickups.

In addition to her performance and compositional work, Mia Zabelka is an active curator and cultural catalyst. In 2009, she founded Klanghaus Untergreith, a center for sound art and interdisciplinary creativity in southern Styria, Austria. The center organizes the Klangzeit Festival three times annually, serving as a vital platform for contemporary experimental practices. That same year, she became the artistic director of PhonoFemme Vienna, an international festival dedicated to experimental music and sound art by women.

Mia Zabelka has collaborated with a wide range of internationally renowned artists across diverse musical disciplines, including Ensemble Zeitkratzer, John Zorn, Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Curran, Zahra Mani and Wolfgang Mitterer. She performs extensively across Europe, USA, and Asia, and has appeared at prestigious festivals such as Wien Modern, Ars Electronica Linz, Steirischer Herbst Graz, Wiener Festwochen, Salzburger Festspiele, Elevate Festival Graz, Donaufestival Krems, Incubate Festival Tilburg, FLUSSI Festival Rome, CTM Festival Berlin, Blow Out Festival Oslo, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Rewire Festival The Hague, New Music America Festival, FIMAV Victoriaville, and Meakusma Festival Eupen.

Her extensive discography, featuring numerous critically acclaimed CD and vinyl releases, has been widely recognized by the international press. Recipient of highly regarded prizes (3-time winner of the Prix Ars Electronica, WDR composition Prize, Luigi Russolo Prize) and awards, she was a guest of the DAAD’s (German Academic Exchange Service’s) international artists’ program in Berlin and the Fulbright Commission in New York. Her composition ‘For Pauline Oliveros’ commissioned by musikprotokoll / Steirischer Herbst and the Austrian Cultural Forum New York as part of the ‘Homages’ project, was honored with THE AKADEMIA Music Award 2018. In 2021, Zabelka was awarded the Austrian Art Prize in Music by the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport. That same year, she was named an Honorary ALUMNI Member of the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna (MUK).

Detailed biography