Introducting Denise L.L. Onen
Onen is an undeniable pathbreaker in her sonic cultural practice. Having honed her unique sensitivity to the world into a broad, burgeoning career, she’s already tried her hand at (nearly) everything sonic – professional installations, compositions, soundtracks, multi-valent production, technical recording, theatre.
As the first black feminine body student to receive a BMus degree specialising in Music Technology from the University of Cape Town, she is now on track to surpass herself by earning a Masters from the same department specialising in graphic scoring and analysis.
In the meantime, she’s been in demand. Short films and documentaries for which she has crafted sound designs have played to diverse plaudits at festivals in Durban, Cape Town, Cairo, Dakar, Nyon and even at Sundance in Salt Lake City, Utah. Likewise, her collaborative sound art and design have stood out at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda whilst her compositions have been performed in New York, drawn eyes and ears at Cape Town’s (Un)Infecting the City, and in Berlin via the Oscillations project and group exhibition. In 2022, she even drew the prestigious attention of the International Oram Award for feminine-bodied innovators in sound, music and associated technology, who added her to their annual shortlist. In 2023, she was selected for a short residency as a Media and Arts Fellow with the DAAD, Berlin.
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The particular standards of intensity, eclecticism and immersiveness which so characterise her work so far stem from her vision of music-making as a kind of audio alchemy.
artist features
As a sonic cultural practitioner collaboration in community is key.
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The particular standards of intensity, eclecticism and immersiveness which so characterise her work so far stem from her vision of music-making as a kind of audio alchemy. Exploring the boundaries of sound, like exploring one’s queerness and multicultural roots, is, for her, an endless process of discovery, recognition and transformation, wherein experience can be distilled into precious and uncanny pieces of grace. The exact form of her work is thus ever-changing but her medium stays close to the bone.
Awards (solo):
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Baden-Württemberg scholarship, 2024​
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DAAD fellowship - Media and Arts, 2023
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Nominations (solo):
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Fak’ugesi Awards, Best Music for Digital Art (for Still Connecting), 2024​
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Oram Award for feminine-bodied innovators in Sound, Music and Associated Technology, international nominee, 2022
Featured Artist
installation interactive system designer: Lucy Strauss
2024
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Installation: sounding the body as a site in Oscillations Exhibition, 27.04 - 19.05, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Germany
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Broadcast: Sound Art from Southern Africa Deutschlandfunk Kultur DLFK
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​Workshop: Sonic Inquiries and Practice, Centre of Humanities Research, UWC, Cape Town, South Africa
Sound Collaborator
2023
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World Expression Forum WEXFO, Lillehammer, Norway
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International Literature Festival BuchBasel, Switzerland
2023
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National Arts Festival, Makhanda, South Africa
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The Dancing Mushroom dir. Haneem Christian - MIND Foundation’s INSIGHT conference, Berlin, Germany
Featured Performer
Vocals
​2022
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Performance Feature, Bloom (a gentle erosion), Dakar Biennale, Senegal
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Installation by Mia Thom
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Featured Artist
​2021
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Featured Artist, Surviving Solitude (Immersive Sound Art Piece) – ICA UnInfecting the City Public Arts Festival
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Featured Artist, So Creative Summit (Digital Storytelling Exhibition) – British Council
Featured Sound Artist
​2021
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Featured Sound Artist, Our Bodies are Clocks Made of Water, LAPA Residence, Johannesburg, ZA
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Installation by Blk Banaana
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Featured Performer
Vocals + Keyboard/Electronics
​2021
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Performer, "Taking Root in the Flesh" – The Mutha_Ship Landing, Cape Town, ZA
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In collaboration with Dumama
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Featured Performer
Backing Vocals + Keyboard/Electronics
​2021
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Performer, Pushing Portals – The Mutha_Ship Landing, Found Sound Nation, ZA
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In collaboration with Dumama, Jannous Aukema, and Kamil Hassan.
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experience
Onen has been dedicated to projects that have held space for marginalised bodies. Onen was a shortlisted nominee for the 2022 International Oram Award for feminine-bodied innovators in sound, music, and associated technology.
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Onen’s practical and academic dedication has enabled her to engage in creation in a range of disciplines as a composer, mixing and mastering engineer, producer, recordist, as well as sound designer.
Her exemplary performance is demonstrated through featured works and collaborations at events among the likes of the Visions du Réel (2024), World Expression Forum (2023), Edinburgh Festival Fringe (2023), National Arts Festival (2024, 2023, 2022); Sundance International Film Festival (2022) nomination for the Jury Prize; Dak'Art - Biennale (2022); Durban International Film Festival, winning Best South African Short (2022); Encounters South African International Documentary Festival (2021), as well as the Cairo International Film Festival (2021), winning Best Southern African Documentary.
COMPOSITION
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Demockracy - Commissioned by the Signum Quartet with the support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation (String Quartet), 2024
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Original Score, About Happy Hippos and Sad Peacocks, dir. Johannes Förster & Elkin Calderón Guevara (Essay Documentary), 2024
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Usque ad Sidera Tellus - Commissioned by Dr. John Woodland for Vox Cape Town (Choral Work), 2023
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​Composer, Delela - Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni, (Stage Play), 2023
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Siyamphimbili – Commissioned by Dr. Pearl Shangkuan, Calvin University Honor Choir (Choral Work), 2022
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Composer, I AM – Sportscene RSA dir. Haneem Christian (Advertisement), 2022
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Composer, Sithi Aba, - KAMVA Collective + Norval Foundation, (Short Film), 2022
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Composer, Prayers for Sweet Water – British Film Institute CT (Documentary), 2021
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Featured Composer, SA New Music Concert – Music Department of North-West University, 2021
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Composer, Botho with RoxyMaRosa – UCT TV/ CTV TV/ DSTV (Theme Song), 2018
SOUND DESIGN
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Lemkus for Nike Footscape dir. Haneem Christian (Advertisement), 2023
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Sound Designer, Still Connecting, dir. Faye Kabali-Kagwa (Multimedia), 2023
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Sound Designer, Nëpp Nëppel, dir. Elijah Ndoumbe (Multimedia), 2023
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Sound Designer, All my Ex-Lovers are Dead – Dara Beth (Stage Play), 2022
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Sound Designer, I AM – Sportscene RSA (Advertisement), 2022
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Sound Designer, Deliver Me – Paper Crane Collective (Documentary), 2021
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Sound Designer, Prayers for Sweet Water – British Film Institute, CT (Documentary), 2021
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Sound Designer, Still Bloom – Zoey Black Productions (Documentary), 2021
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Soundscape Creation, Bienvenue A Ma Table – For Elijah Ndoumbe, Forecast Forum, 2020
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Sound Editor, Empatico Experience – Empatico & UMUZI, 2019
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Soundscape Creation/Sound Editor, Held (Exhibition by Amanda Rybicka), Creative Change Laboratory, 2019
MIXING &
MASTERING
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​Mix & Mastering Engineer, Salon Kewpie - The Legacy Project – dir. Haneem Christian, GALA Archive, District Six Museum (Short Documentary), 2023
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Mix Engineer, I AM – Sportscene RSA (Advertisement), 2022
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Mix Engineer, The SenseMaker Project – ACDI, Western Cape Water Caucus, UCT (Documentary), 2022
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Mix Engineer, City Occupied – Lionfish Productions (Documentary: Housing Crisis), 2022
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Mix Engineer, Decentralising Music Making in South Africa – Stiff Pap/Umuzi (Documentary), 2022
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Mix & Mastering Engineer, Deliver Me – Paper Crane Collective (Documentary), 2021
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Mix & Mastering Engineer, Prayers for Sweet Water – British Film Institute CT (Documentary), 2021
education
2024 - Present
Hochschule für Gestaltung, Karlsruhe, DE
Winter Semester
Intercultural Music and Media Practice Exchange
supported by
Baden-Württemberg Foundation scholarship
2023 - Present
University of Cape Town, South African College of Music, ZA
MMus
Master of Music in Musicology
Supervisor: Theo Herbst
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Focus: Electroacoustic Musicology.
Exploring Graphic Representation and Analysis of Film Sound Design as Electroacoustic compositions
2024 - Myra Chapman Department Scholarship
2014 - 2018
University of Cape Town, South African College of Music, ZA
BMus
Bachelor of Music - Specialising in Music Technology
(distinction in Music Technology)
2018 - SAMRO Bursary
interviews
Interview on Fine Music Radio's 'The Choral Life' 01.10.2023 by Otto van der Walt