About me

Caroline Jesalva (b. 2000) is a Chicago-based musician, improviser, multidisciplinary artist, and curator. She studied music at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA where she developed a practice centered on contemporary, improvised and experimental music composition and performance. Her music continually concerns the experimentation and intermingling of violin and vox, finding an expressive home in many disciplines, including experimental theater, songwriting, puppetry, performance art, classical music, and free jazz. A nomadic performer, Caroline can be seen improvising with music collective BananaAcid, exploring the performance of the body with Katinka Kleijn, violining in the pit for puppets with Manual Cinema, playing ambient improvisations with Sarah Clausen, singing and fiddling with Janelle Finton’s Joygarden, and more.

Caroline Jesalva (Violin, Vocals) is a Chicago-based musician, improviser, multidisciplinary artist, and curator. She studied music at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA where she developed a practice centered on contemporary, improvised and experimental music composition and performance. Her work intersects many disciplines including experimental theater, songwriting, performance art, classical music, and free jazz. On violin/vox, she has contributed to projects led by Wayne Shorter, Esperanza Spalding, Laufey, among many other fantastic musicians. Caroline is a member of the improvising collective BananaAcid, and performs regularly with musicians and artists, such as cellist Katinka Kleijn and saxophonist Sarah Clausen. She has performed as a soloist, in duos, and with ensembles such as Manual Cinema, A Far Cry, Bang on a Can, ECCE Arts Ensemble, and Crossing Borders Music, appearing at venues across the U.S. including Jordan Hall, MASS MoCA, Compound Yellow, Oracle Egg, Constellation, Elastic Arts Foundation, Moeser Auditorium, The Hideout, Hungry Brain, BOMBYX Center for Arts, Rosehill Cemetery, and the International Museum of Surgical Science.