Martina Bertoni is a composer and experimental cellist whose work interrogates sound’s capacity to reshape perception through electroacoustic composition, destabilised tunings, generative systems, and drone minimalism.
Her research lies at the intersection of embodied sound practices and post-instrumental identities. Her discography includes Electroacoustic Works for Halldorophone (Karlrecords 2025), Hypnagogia (2023) and Music for Empty Flats (2021). She currently lectures at the Department of Music at the Catalyst Institute for Creative Arts and Technology in Berlin.
This electroacoustic performance for laptop and electronics draws from Martina’s research on tuning systems and generative composition developed during her residency at Elektronmusikstudion in Stockholm (November 2023), released in 2025 as a double LP on Karlrecords.
Working with tetraphonic scales and tuned feedbacks, Martina generates compositions that move between harmonic frequencies and evolving soundscapes. The set unfolds from quiet, ambient textures into resonant sound architectures, offering an exploration of tuning, time, and the balance between control and chaos.
Martina Bertoni presents Electroacoustic Works for Halldorophone at silent green on Thursday, 12.02.2026.
FACTS
1. change is comforting
2. I am fascinated by Mathematics
3. I love cats
QUESTIONS
1. What is the biggest inspiration for your music?
At the moment, the biggest inspiration and drive for my music and research are Karen Barad’s New Materialism Theory and Quantum Physics, both offer such radical approaches to how we understand knowledge and reality. I’m also deeply inspired by resonances: the way objects, spaces, and materials vibrate and interact fascinates me endlessly.
2. How and when did you get into making music?
I was six years old when I saw an orchestra of kids playing at my school. My eyes were glued to the little cellists. I came home and tormented my parents until they bought me a cello. That was the start.
3. What are 5 of your favourite albums of all time?
It’s impossible to pick only five… I constantly listen to a lot of things, and there’s so much beautiful, diverse music out there.
4. What do you associate with Berlin?
My home, my family, and a place where I found my people.
5. What’s your favourite place in your town?
My home.
6. If there was no music in the world, what would you do instead?
Difficult to imagine, but probably I’d work in a cat shelter. Or I’d be a pastry chef.
7. What was the last record/music you bought?
In the last period I’ve been extremely busy and haven’t had the capacity to focus on buying music, but I’ve been listening obsessively to J.S. Bach’s harpsichord works. I’m obsessed with the instrument, and I find listening to these works so mathematically rewarding.
8. Who would you most like to collaborate with?
At the moment my schedule for collaborations is wonderfully full. I have a duo with Stefan Schneider-Monti (TAL Label), where I play modular synthesisers, with whom we’re working on a release. I’m also collaborating with Ziúr for live performances, together with Sander Houtkrujier and Sara Persico. I’m extremely happy and and I’m excited about all the plans we’re carving out.
9. What was your best gig (as performer or spectator)?
Music Unlimited Festival in 1997. I was there to play with David Shea, and over few days I got to see all my avant-garde heroes, Mick Harris, Thurston Moore, Zeena Parkins, Elliott Sharp. I was completely blown away, and somewhere between consciously and unconsciously, I decided that I wanted to be an experimental musician.
10. How important is technology to your creative process?
Technology represents liberation for me. I can explore countless possibilities and expand the complexity of what I can create. It’s a fun and intriguing process that I love. I’m always curious about what happens next.
11. Do you have siblings and how do they feel about your career/art?
I’m an only child. My parents have always supported me, even though they couldn’t really grasp the logic of what I was doing.
