Eduardo Polonio

Born in Madrid in 1941. He dropped out of the Engineering and Telecommunications School to attend the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid, where he studied the piano, harmonics, counterpoint and composition. In 1968, he obtained a diploma for teaching composition. Between 1966 and 1970, he studied instrumentation with Günther Becker during the Darmstadt Summer Courses. In 1969, thanks to a scholarship from the Juan March Foundation, he trained at the Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music Institute at the University of Ghent. The following year one of his first electroacoustic works (Rabelaisiennes, for prepared guitar, magnetic tape and filters) was nominated for the Gaudeamus Festival Award. He belonged to the KOAN group, as both compositor and musician, during its early period (1967-1970). In 1969, he started to work with the ALEA laboratory in Madrid. Between 1970 and 1972, he was part of the ALEA MÚSICA ELECTRÓNICA LIBRE group, the first Spanish group playing electroacoustic music live.
In 1976, he moved to Barcelona where he worked closely with the PHONOS Laboratory. In 1983, he founded OBERT-ART ACTUAL, in cooperation with Rafael Santamaria. They organized the Sis Dies d'Art Actual, multimedia festivals in Barcelona three years running, from 1983 to 85. In 1985, with Gabriel Brncic and Claudio Zulian, he started MULTIMÚSICA, a group specializing in live electroacoustic music. Eduardo Polonio is also one of the founders of the SPANISH ASSOCIATION OF ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC —he was its President from 1988 to 1994. It was during his presidency that he organized the first two International Punto de Encuentro de Música Electroacústica Festivals in 1990 and 1992. At present, he is a member of the INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC OF BOURGES and of the Committee of the ÁREA DE CREACIÓ ACÚSTICA Foundation of Majorca.
In 1994, he was awarded the MAGISTERIUM of the Grand Prix International de Musique Électroacoustique in Bourges (France).
In 1996, he moved to Huelva where he founded CREACIÓN MUSICAL Y NUEVAS TECNOLOGÍAS and the electroacoustic music studio DIÁFANO. Since 2000, he directs Confluencias, arte y tecnología al borde del milenio, held in Huelva with the patronage of the Autonomous Government of Andalusia. In 2006 he creates and directs, together with the University of Seville, the I INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF MUSIC & CONTEMPORARY TECHNOLOGIES.
One of the characteristics of his work since 1969 is the almost total abandon of traditional instruments in favour of electroacoustic sources. He generally interprets his own work in concerts, combining magnetic tapes, synthesizers and processors in real time —often accompanied by videos or other elements created by visual artists. He has composed two electroacoustic operas: “Uno es el Cubo • fantasía kepleriana en cinco sólidos perfectos” and “Dulce mal”, whose premiere was during the International Festival of Contemporary Music held in Alicante in 1995 and in 1999.