JULIE SEMOROZ
Electronics
JULIE SEMOROZ
Julie Semoroz is a French-Swiss sound artist based in Geneva, Switzerland, whose work bridges art, science, and technology through immersive sound installations, experimental concerts, and interdisciplinary performances. She explores the physical and emotional dimensions of sound, its resonance with the human body, and its ecological and social impact. Her practice draws on neuroscience, biology, and philosophy, addressing themes such as interspecies communication, emotional vocalizations, and neuronal synchronization.
Recent works include Myelin (upcoming album), which investigates the connection between voice, neuroscience and embodied perception; Neural Noise 1, exploring the entanglement between neuronal activity and sonic improvisation; and Phonosynthesis, a composition for humans and plants on sound layering and perceptual thresholds. Future projects include Brain Heart Visceral Coupling (Art Zoyd Studios, 2026), which links physiological signals to immersive sound, and a duo with percussionist Yi-Ping Yang in 2026.
Her artistic practice is deeply collaborative and research-driven. She has worked with institutions such as the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences (CISA) and the NCCR Evolving Language. In her project Douze Mille Vingt (2021, with neuroscientist Didier Grandjean), she intertwined human and non-human primate and animal vocalizations. With Orcas Talk (2021), she collaborated with physicist Jörg Rychen to attempt sonic dialogue with orcas in Norway.
Through this combination of artistic experimentation and scientific inquiry, Julie Semoroz creates works that challenge how we listen, perceive, and connect with other species and environments.
JULIE SEMOROZ
Julie Semoroz est une artiste sonore franco-suisse basée à Genève, en Suisse, dont le travail fait le pont entre l'art, la science et la technologie à travers des installations sonores immersives, des concerts expérimentaux et des performances interdisciplinaires. Elle explore les dimensions physiques et émotionnelles du son, sa résonance avec le corps humain et son impact écologique et social. Sa pratique s'appuie sur les neurosciences, la biologie et la philosophie, abordant des thèmes tels que la communication interespèces, les vocalisations émotionnelles et la synchronisation neuronale.
Parmi ses œuvres récentes, citons Myéline (album à paraître), qui explore le lien entre la voix, les neurosciences et la perception incarnée ; Neural Noise 1, qui explore l'imbrication entre l'activité neuronale et l'improvisation sonore ; et Phonosynthèse, une composition pour les humains et les plantes sur la superposition des sons et les seuils de perception. Parmi ses projets futurs, citons Brain Heart Visceral Coupling (Art Zoyd Studios, 2026), qui relie les signaux physiologiques à un son immersif, et un duo avec le percussionniste Yi-Ping Yang en 2026.
Sa pratique artistique est profondément collaborative et axée sur la recherche. Elle a travaillé avec des institutions telles que le Centre suisse des sciences affectives (CISA) et le NCCR Evolving Language. Dans son projet Douze Mille Vingt (2021, avec le neuroscientifique Didier Grandjean), elle a entremêlé les vocalisations humaines et non humaines de primates et d'animaux. Avec Orcas Talk (2021), elle a collaboré avec le physicien Jörg Rychen pour tenter un dialogue sonore avec les orques en Norvège.
Grâce à cette combinaison d'expérimentation artistique et de recherche scientifique, Julie Semoroz crée des œuvres qui remettent en question notre écoute, notre perception et la communication avec d'autres espèces et environnements.
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Julie Semoroz has worked or shared the stage with the following artists: Emma Souharce, Sandrine Pelletier, Anne Rochat, Maya Rochat, Jasmine Morand, Marthe Krummenacher, Cyril Bon- di, Joke Lanz, Pierre Pontvianne, Fabrice Mazliah, Sophie Le Meillour, Erika Nieva da Cunha, Jérémy Chevalier, Thomas Perrodin, Luisa Lemgruber, Mena Elshazli, Fabio Bergamaschi, Martina Sofie Wildberger, Rafael Smadja, Cédric Gagneur, Laurent Bruttin, Ariel Garcia, Thierry Debons, Stephan Wirth, Akiko Ahrendt, Zuzana Kakalikova, Yann Marussich, Chris- tophe Calpini,..
She performed in: Switzerland, France, Italy, Poland, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, UK, Denmark, Russia, China, Chili, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia…
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Compositions
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HAI (HUMAN-ANIMAL INTERACTION)
POUR UNE VOIX, CORDES, PERCUSSION ET ÉLECTRONIQUE COMMANDE DE L’ENSEMBLE CONTRECHAMPS
HAI is the abbreviation for «human-animal interaction». Julie Semoroz presents a composition for voice, strings, percussion and electronics, which is the result of reflections and field research related to vocalisation and animal cognition. Julie Semoroz’s research has led to several art-science projects in the framework of two research centres - the Centre interfacultaire en sciences affectives (CISA) and the Pôle de Recherche National (PRN) Evolving Language. Since 2020 she has also received support from the SNSF Swiss National Science Foundation in collaboration with CISA Unige, research grants from the city and state of Geneva as well as support from Pro Helvetia for research (Work In Progress). Thanks to the support and encourage- ment of Serge Vuille and other composers with whom the artist regularly exchanges, Julie Semoroz has been developing since 2019 with the ensemble Contrechamps, a new type of experimental writing for instrumental ensemble. In contrast to her usual work, here she offers the public the first work in which she does not play herself.
In the winter of 2021, Julie Semoroz accompanied Dr. Jörg Rychen, a researcher at the ETHZ and the NCCR Evolving Language, to Norway to develop a pilot project in the study of orca vocalization. Ella has contributed directly to the research results, and a scientific publication is currently being developed. It is planned that the artist will return to Norway to continue her research in this area.
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Composition commission for Sébastien Pluot, Exhibition Time Capsule 2045, MAH, Geneva, Switzerland
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Reflections on human and animal vocalization and the transmission of neuronal information. Neurons, of which there are 100 billion in the human brain, have the role of circulating information between the environment and the organism, able to receive, analyse and produce information. The function of myelin is to considerably increase the speed of message conduction (nerve impulses, or action potentials).
Created in 2021, created for the live in 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland
Composition: Julie Semoroz
Sound sources: EEG Unige Cisa, piezo, voice, viola, percussion, synth
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Originally conceived for the WE NEED SPACE performance, BALEINA is a sound composition addressing extreme underwater noise resulting from human industrial activity in the seas and oceans. With the help of Cesar Villaroe, professional diver in Chile at ExploraSub, she reco- vers underwater recordings from 2017, underwater explosions, dol- phin and whale sonar and mixes them with urban elements captured between Beijing and Shanghai.
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NEURAL NOISE 1
A commissioned musical composition by Yi-Ping Yang, inspired by neuronal dynamics
In association with CISA (chair of affective sciences at the University of Geneva)
NEURAL NOISE 1 is a musical work by Julie Semoroz exploring the link between neuroscience and music, in which percussion, light and voice symbolise neuronal interactions. Drawing on principles such as expectation, learning and inter-frequency coupling, this composition translates the complexity of the brain into sound and light. Through rhythmic and sonic textures inspired by neuronal oscillations, it invites each listener to question his or her own perception.
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Phonosynthèse
Une expérience sonore avec Julie Semoroz
Plongez dans une forêt collective où les animaux, le vent et les fréquences naturelles composent une symphonie vivante provenant des enregistrements de terrains de l'artiste. Au cœur de la serre du Jardin Botanique, laissez-vous envelopper par une sieste sonore mouvante, tissée de murmures, de résonances lointaines et de vibrations secrètes. Chaque visiteur influence cette création éphémère, devenant à son tour un interprète de ce dialogue silencieux entre l’humain et le végétal. Une surprise acoustique vous y attend…
D’une durée de 60 minutes, cette immersion poétique transforme la serre en un écosystème harmonieux où l’écoute active et la contemplation se répondent. Entre field recordings et musique live pour les humains et non humains de la serre, l’expérience invite à une reconnexion sensible avec le vivant – une chorale éphémère collective, où chacun participe à la musique de la forêt.
À vivre comme une promenade sonore, une méditation active, ou une exploration curieuse.
Création : Julie Semoroz
Production : Artasperto-Korsonor 2025
Durée : 60 minutes
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Astral Disaster is a commissioned sound piece for a book published by Hécatombe. This work approaches the idea of astral disorder in- voking the passage from microcosm to macrocosm. This composition is made with sound elements from the surrounding world (digestion, electrical world) as well as radio signals freely available on the NASA website. Thus, the organ and the parasitic current coexist, from the inside to the outside, becoming transfers of living worlds passing from fragile states to astral nebulae
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JMO offers sound naps from recordings gleaned from around the world inviting a horizontal sound journey.
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Commissioned piece, CACY Yverdon, Julie Semoroz takes the audience on a «sonic drift» from field recordings, gleaned in particular in China, from which emerge images of an architecture on an inordinate scale. Voices, instruments and various objects still resonate in the perfor- mance, which juxtaposes natural and industrial atmospheres.
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«You should take a break and breathe, maybe be hypnotized by a swing» JMO
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KANE 鐘 (2018) - 45MIN
Commissioned piece for the exhibition DOJO temple de l’abstraction by Sébastien Leseigneur, August 18, 2018
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HF (High Frequencies)
Using a high-frequency detector, Semoroz extracts the electromagnetic waves of the surrounding networks and antennas. The result is raw sound material, which is then shaped, controlled and broadcast again. The endless interference which contemporary mankind is subjected to is thus made perceptible.
