Caterina Barbieri (b.1990, Bologna, Italy) is a composer and performer of electroacoustic music. Mostly interested in modular synthesis, three-dimensional spatialisation and psychoacoustic aural sculpture, her music arises from a meditative approach to primary waveforms, microtonality and the polyrhythm of harmonics, on the boundary between drone, minimalism and techno in multichannel systems.

Photo: Giuliano Peta

Her minimalistic focus is rooted in the exploration of the stratigraphic potential of voltage-controlled synthesizers, in terms of polyrhythm and polyphony. She holds a diploma in classical guitar and a bachelor’s degree in electroacoustic music from the Conservatory of Bologna, Italy, plus an exchange programme at the Royal University of Music in Stockholm, Sweden, with a thesis on 3D spatialisation and the perception of time, space and sound spectrum in vertical music. She’s currently finishing a bachelor’s degree in the Faculty of Humanities and Philosophy of Bologna, with a thesis about psychoacoustics and modality in dhrupad music.
Her work has been commissioned and performed in different festivals and venues of experimental music in Europe. Her debut album Vertical, composed for Buchla Modular Synthesizer and vocals, was produced between EMS and KMH in Stockholm and has been released on the american label Important Records/Cassauna (October 2014).