Manuela Cardona

Manuela Cardona is a Colombian composer currently studying at the Boston Conservatory, where she focuses on contemporary and experimental music. She is currently a composition student of Marti Epstein and has previously studied with Dan VanHassel and Dr. Eun Young Lee.

Her work blends intricate textures, through-composed forms, and vivid sonic imagery, often weaving together acoustic and electronic sound worlds. Drawing inspiration from personal experiences and her Latin American heritage, Manuela creates music that invites deep listening and reflection.

Her practice is often interdisciplinary, incorporating visual media, storytelling, and immersive installation elements. She is particularly interested in the intersection between musical and visual patterns, crafting works that explore memory, transformation, and the hidden architectures of sound. She has worked as a live painting performer and collaborated with other musicians as a contemporary singer and pianist.

Recent highlights include the selection of her piece The Space Between for the 2025 International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), her participation in the IRCAM ManiFeste Academy in Paris, and her acceptance to the 4th New Music Intensive with the International Brazilian Opera Company. She has a special passion for writing for solo instruments, where she explores both traditional and extended techniques to broaden expressive possibilities, and she deeply enjoys composing for non-traditional chamber ensembles, such as the Hinge Quartet.

Currently, Manuela is composing an hour-long ballet based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses by the Grimm Brothers, in collaboration with choreographer Denise Pons-Leone. The project features four chamber ensembles with varied instrumentation and will premiere as part of her senior recital at the Boston Conservatory.

In all her work, she strives to create cohesive, emotionally resonant worlds—music that grows organically from small motivic seeds into intricate, evolving landscapes.