Born in Madrid in 1941, Eduardo Polonio passed away on December 25, 2024.
Polonio began his musical journey by leaving the Engineering and Telecommunications School to enroll at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid. There, he studied piano, harmonics, counterpoint, and composition, ultimately earning a diploma in teaching composition in 1968.
From 1966 to 1970, he expanded his expertise in instrumentation under the tutelage of Günther Becker at the Darmstadt Summer Courses. In 1969, he received a scholarship from the Juan March Foundation to further his studies at the Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music Institute at the University of Ghent. The following year, one of his early electroacoustic compositions, "Rabelaisiennes," for prepared guitar, magnetic tape, and filters, was nominated for the Gaudeamus Festival Award.
During the early years of the Koan group from 1967 to 1970, Polonio contributed as both a composer and performer. In 1969, he began collaborating with the Alea laboratory in Madrid. He was a member of the Alea Música Electrónica Libre group from 1970 to 1972, recognized as the first Spanish ensemble to perform electroacoustic music live.
In 1976, Polonio relocated to Barcelona, where he engaged closely with the Phonos Laboratory. In 1983, he co-founded Obert-Art Actual with Rafael Santamaria, organizing the Sis Dies d'Art Actual multimedia festivals in Barcelona from 1983 to 1985. The following year, he, along with Gabriel Brncic and Claudio Zulian, established Multimusica, a group dedicated to live electroacoustic music.
Since 1969, a hallmark of Polonio's work has been his shift away from traditional instruments in favor of electroacoustic sources. He typically performs his own compositions, integrating magnetic tapes, synthesizers, and processors in real-time, often accompanied by visual elements created in collaboration with artists.
Notable examples of these collaborations include "Calidoscopi" (1976), an audiovisual spectacle featuring light sculptures by Eduardo Magliano at Sala Zeleste in Barcelona; "Per a Matar·ho" (1977), a performance with painter Ferrán García Sevilla in Mataró, Barcelona; and "Dempeus Assegut Agenollat" (1981), an action with Rafael Santamaria at Espai 10 - Foundation Miró in Barcelona. Other significant works include "Sottovoce" (1983), a musical environment for a video installation by Santamaria at Metrònom Gallery in Barcelona; "Vilafranca-Eclipsi" (1985), a video installation with Carles Pujol at Sant Joan’s Chapel in Vilafranca del Penedès; and "El Lloguer del Miraller" (1987), a performance with Santamaria at the Palau de la Música in Valencia. His later works include "Alteraciones" (1989), a spectacle with sound sculptures and lights with painter Toni Rueda; "Electroacústica, Visuales y Grand Chapeau Chinois" (1991), a performance featuring photography by Santiago Torralba; and "Música imaginada" (1996), incorporating films and slides by Santiago Torralba and Pablo Arribe at the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid.
Polonio also composed two electroacoustic operas: “Uno es el Cubo • fantasía kepleriana en cinco sólidos perfectos” and “Dulce mal,” which premiered during the International Festival of Contemporary Music in Alicante in 1995 and 1999, respectively.
Additionally, he was a founding member of the Spanish Association of Electroacoustic Music and served as its President from 1988 to 1994, during which time he organized the first two International Punto de Encuentro de Música Electroacústica Festivals in 1990 and 1992.
In 1994, Polonio received the Magisterium of the Grand Prix International de Musique Électroacoustique in Bourges, France. He was also a member of the International Academy of Electroacoustic Music and the Committee of the Área de Creació Acústica Foundation in Majorca. Serving as president of the Asociación Creación Musical y Nuevas Tecnologías, he directed the electroacoustic music studio Diáfano and has been overseeing Confluencias, arte y tecnología al borde del milenio since 2000, an event held in Huelva with the support of the Autonomous Government of Andalusia.
