TBA:19 FESTIVAL

Kara-Lis Coverdale works in both acoustic and electronic media to create works that transcend reality. Driven by a patient devotion to sonic afterlife, memory, and material curiosity, Coverdale’s world-building work occupies new planes built upon a borderless understanding of electronic music rooted in the interlocking pathways of musical systems and languages. For TBA, Coverdale will perform a solo acoustic concert of a new composition written for the Jaeckel organ at the First Presbyterian Church, following recent new spectral works framed by oceanic change, spectral focus, and liminal dynamism, described by The New York Times as "elevated, disembodied contemplation, patiently celestial." 

Hand built by Dan Jaeckel from 1997–99, the mechanical inner workings of the Jaeckel pipe organ were constructed with seventeenth century designs using red cedar to connect each key to various pipes. This adds to Kara-Lis’ growing list of compositions such as “Marjamaa Laulud,” a commission for dance at the Vanemuine Theater in Tartu, Estonia; and “VoxU,” a pipe organ piece centered around the Vox Humana organ stop which is considered the first form of vocal synthesis dating back to the fifteenth century. 

Born in Burlington, Canada, Kara-Lis Coverdale began studying with the Royal Conservatory of Music from age 5. Coverdale has worked as organist and music director at several churches across Canada since age 13. Previous releases include Aftertouches (2015, Sacred Phrases), a distinct exploration of holographic sonics, named a top album of the year by The Wire and NPR. Coverdale has collaborated with Philadelphia noise artist David Sutton (LXV) and Tim Hecker (Love Streams, Virgins) among many others. In 2016 and 2017, Coverdale performed over eighty shows in Europe, North America, and Australia. More recently, she presented new large scale works “Marjamaa Laulud,” a unique commission for Dance with the Estonian Vanemuine Theatre; and “VoxU,” a pipe organ commission for Mutek Montreal (CALQ) that is centered around of the unique sonics of the Vox Humana organ stop.