Briana Marela Lizárraga
Composer | Performer | Vocalist
b. 1989 Seattle, WA ▪ Currently based in Oakland, CA
briana.marela@gmail.com ▪ www.brianamarela.com
Education
2020 MFA in Electronic Music & Recording Media, Mills College, Oakland, CA
Studied with Laetitia Sonami, Zeena Parkins, John Bischoff, and James Fei
2011 BA in Audio Production & Music Technology, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA
Awards, Grants, Residencies
2026 Jack Straw Artist Support Program, Seattle, WA
2026 Women’s Audio Mission Local Sirens Artist-in-Residence, San Francisco, CA (May 2026)
2026 Djerassi Alumni & Partner’s Residency, sponsored by ArtBae, Woodside, CA (April 2nd-16th, 2026)
2025-2027 Composition Fellow, Lucas Artists Residency Program at Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA (November 2025-present)
2024-2025 Audium Spatial Sound Residency, San Francisco, CA (October 2024 - April 2025)
2021 ACRE Residency, Steuben, WI (July 2021)
2021 Qubit Innovator Lab Residency with Sally Decker, remote/New York, NY (May 2021)
2020 Margaret Lyon Music Student Prize by Mills College, Oakland, CA (May 2020)
2019 Career Development Grant by American Association of University Women (April 2019)
2018 Listen UP! Music by Women Grant by Allied Arts Foundation, Seattle, WA (June 2018)
2018 Sou’wester Artist Residency Program, Seaview, WA (March 2018)
Selected Performances
2026 Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA with Cole Pulice
2026 Tiat, Water Futures Exhibition, San Francisco, CA
2025 Gray Area Festival 2025 - To the Maxx! at Gray Area, San Francisco, CA
2025 Woodstockhausen ‘25 Festival, Boulder Creek, CA
2025 “Qué Pena” for New Voices IV at Audium, San Francisco, CA
2024 San Francisco Electronic Music Festival at The Lab, San Francisco, CA
2024 Garden of Memory, Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland, CA
2023 Indexical, Santa Cruz, CA with JJJJJerome Ellis
2023 The Lab, San Francisco, CA with Loscil & Lawrence English
2022 Basilica Hudson, Hudson, NY, duo performance with Sally Decker
2022 The Warfield, San Francisco, CA with Kikagaku Moyo
2019 Verge Center for the Arts, Sacramento, CA with Spellling & Wizard Apprentice
2019 Noise Pop Music Festival, Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
2018 The Lodge Room, Los Angeles, CA with Jenny Hval
2018 The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA with Mitski
2017 The Neptune Theatre, Seattle, WA with Perfume Genius
2017 KEXP Live In-Studio Session, Seattle, WA
2016 Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Los Angeles, CA with Waxahatchee
2015 Decibel Festival, Seattle, WA
2015 Green Man Festival, Brecon, UK
2015 KEXP Live In-Studio Session, Seattle, WA
2015 Noise Pop Music Festival, Swedish American Hall, San Francisco, CA with Grouper & Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
2012 The Chapel, Wayward Music Series, Seattle, WA with Christi Denton & Heather Perkins
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 February 13th - April 5th, “Qué Pena,” New Voices IV, Audium, San Francisco, CA
2023 July 8th - 14th, “Small Tremble in Slow Motion,” collaboration with Sally Decker, Olympia Armory Intervention, Thurston County Museum of Fine Arts, Olympia, WA
2021 June 30th, “Small Tremble in Slow Motion,” collaboration with Sally Decker, (this is not a) music video, 208 Bowery, New York, NY
Solo Discography
2025 My Inner Rest, AKP Recordings, LP, Cassette/CD/Digital
2024 Teardrop Star, Self-Released, LP, Cassette/Digital
2022 You Are a Wave, Self-Released, LP, Cassette/Digital
2020 Eclipse, PIAPTK Records, single, 7” Lenticular Lathe Cut Record/Digital
2017 Call It Love, Jagjaguwar Records, LP, Vinyl/CD/Cassette/Digital
2015 All Around Us, Jagjaguwar Records, LP, Vinyl/CD/Digital
2014 Remain, PIAPTK Records, single, CD/Lathe Cut record
2013 I Don’t Belong To You, PIAPTK Records, single, 7” Lathe Cut Record
2012 Speak From Your Heart, Bicycle Records/Self-Released, LP, Vinyl/CD/Digital
2010 Water Ocean Lake, Self-Released, LP, Cassette/Digital
2007 Stuck In A Rhythm, Self-Released, EP, CD/Digital
Collaborative Discography
2022 Small Tremble In Slow Motion, Sally Decker & Briana Marela, Surface World, LP, Digital
2016 Swooning, Swooning, Self-Released, LP, Cassette/Digital
Selected Recordings as a Soloist/Instrumentalist
2022 “Echo Amulet” on Hypermyth, Signal Quest, Orange Milk Records, LP, Vinyl/Digital
2017 “Baseboards” and “Skiptracer” on Super Genuine, Hoop, Decency Den Records, LP, Vinyl/Digital
Selected Commissions
2022 “Wingspan” For The Birds: The Birdsong Project Vol. IV, curated by Randall Poster
2018 “4th Amendment” 27: The Most Perfect Album, Radiolab x More Perfect Podcast, for Episode 2, Season 3
Selected Press
2025 The Tonearm, The Untethered Electronics of Briana Marela
2025 The Quietus, Briana Marela My Inner Rest - Review
2025 Flood Magazine, Briana Marela Shares “Vibrant Sheen” and “Grasshopper” from Forthcoming LP My Inner Rest
2023 KQED, Sunday Music Drop, Briana Marela ‘Uncertainty and the Unknown’
2022 Under the Radar, Video Premiere: Briana Marela shares new video for “You Are a Wave”
2022 Fifteen Questions, Interview with Briana Marela, The String that Vibrates Others
2017 Billboard, New Face, Fresh Style: Jagjaguwar Signee Briana Marela shares New “Farthest Shore’ Clip
2015 Vogue, Why Briana Marela Went To Iceland to Record Her New Album
2015 SPIN, Five Artists to Watch in June
2015 NPR, All Songs Considered
2015 The Fader, Briana Marela announces ‘All Around Us’, premieres “Surrender”
Selected Work as a Mixing Engineer/Producer
2024 Late Morning, Michelle Moeller, AKP Recordings
2024 Intercommunications, Paige Emery, Leaving Records
Selected Talks/Lectures/Workshops
2026 March 14th, Intro to Max: Visual Coding & Performance, Workshop, Wave Archive at Sine & Symbol Intermedia Arts Festival, Tucson, AZ
2025 May 4th, TIAT 11: The Intersection of Art and Technology, Short Lecture/Presentation, The Internet Archive, San Francisco, CA
Curatorial Work
2023 Mills After Mills: 3 Days of Crazy Love at The Lab in SF, CA - Three day festival that gathered a broad cross-section of composers associated with the legendary and now defunct Mills College for a series of performances driven by questions around legacy, institutional memory, and creative regeneration. Curated by composer collective made up of: Briana Marela Lizárraga, Sally Decker, Brendan Glasson, Matt Robidoux, Mitch Stahlmann, and Michelle Moeller
Selected Print Publication Press
2017 “What is Everlasting?” July/August 2017, Malibu Magazine
2015 “Pleased To Meet You” July-October, Under The Radar Magazine
2012 “Take Care of Me” July/August 2012 Music Edition, The Believer
Selected Work History
March 2024 - Present, Buchla USA LLC, Tech Associate