short bio

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. Her self-led projects include the experimental-art-rock quartet 20/20 Plastic, and two solo projects for violin and voice: ‘out of context’ and ‘rotations around the sun’. 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, creating ambient improvisations with Sarah Clausen, singing and fiddling with Janelle Finton’s Joygarden, and more.

medium bio

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, Johan Lenox, Hannah Frances, among many other incredible artists. Caroline is a member of the improvising collective BananaAcid, and collaborates regularly with Chicago-based musicians, 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 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. A dedicated curator and organizer, Caroline is the co-artistic director of Music in the Garden Festival hosted annually at Elastic Arts Foundation.