Nicola Giannini is an artist and researcher creating immersive sound experiences. He specializes in the composition of sound spaces, which he conceives as ephemeral sonic architectures in constant evolution. Giannini explores the interaction between people, sound, space and the urban, social and environmental context. His works investigate balances and ruptures, the real and the surreal, the organic and the synthetic, intensity and lightness. He is inspired by the tension between the unpredictability of nature and the human quest for control. By exploring the most visceral aspects of sound, he aims to create sound spaces in which the public can almost touch the sound and feel completely immersed in it.
His pieces have been presented in North and South America, Australia and Europe at events and venues such as Ars Electronica (Austria), Centre PHI (Canada), Akousma (Canada), San Francisco Tape Festival (USA), Cube Fest (USA), File Festival (Brazil). He received first prize in the JTTP 2019 Canadian Electroacoustic Community competition, the audience award in the 2022 Akousma immersive music competition, and an honourable mention in the 12th Fundación Destellos competition (Argentina). He was a finalist in the Métamorphoses 2022 (Influx – Musiques & Recherches, Belgium) and the Città di Udine 2018 (Italy) competitions.
Originally from Italy, Giannini obtained a doctorate in music composition and sound creation from the University of Montreal, where he taught electroacoustic composition, performance and sound installations for four years. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow in research-creation, funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture – FRQSC (dossier number B5 – 346308), focusing on immersive co-creation and public space composition at the École des arts visuels et médiatiques at Université du Québec à Montréal and the Multimodal Interaction Laboratory at McGill University. Since 2018, he has been a member of the Groupe de recherche en immersion spatiale (GRIS), actively contributing to the development of SpatGRIS, a free and open-source software for sound spatialization. Together with Jean-Philippe Jullin, he created MapSPAT, a spatialization tool that generates trajectories based on sound variations.
Artistic Residencies
- Sporobole Centre en Art Actuel, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada, May 2021.
- Guest Composer at Elektronmusikstudion EMS in Stockholm – 2017 July 24th to August 3rd. Thanks to the contribution of the Italian Culture Institute in Stockholm.
- Tempo Reale, research and production music center, Florence, Italy 2016 May to September.