Mira Calix, who has died unexpectedly aged 52, was a composer, electronic musician and installation artist who started out working for indie record labels and organising club nights in the experimental hinterland of the 1990s rave scene. From the moment she arrived in the UK from South Africa in 1991 (then known as Chantal Passamonte), she was making connections and changes in the music world.
In 1996, she released her first record, the EP Ilanga, for Warp Records, becoming one of the first female artists to sign to the label. She came to prominence in 2003 when the London Sinfonietta premiered her work Nunu at the Royal Festival Hall, as part of the Warp Works/20th-Century Masters concert, a collaboration that was pivotal for her and the record label in expanding beyond electronica. From then on Calix was unconstrained by medium, creating work in sculpture, spoken word and conceptual art as well as musical composition and performance.
