Kara-Lis Coverdale

Kara-Lis Coverdale
Coverdale in 2016
Background information
Born	Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Origin	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genres	Experimental, Electronic, Ambient, Modern Classical
Occupations	Musician, composer, record producer
Instruments	Piano, Organ, VST, DAW, MaxMsp, Synthesizer, sampler, Computer
Labels	Constellation Tatsu, Sacred Phrases Umor Rex

Kara-Lis Coverdale, also known as K-LC, is a Canadian composer, musician, producer, based in Montreal. Coverdale is known equally for her piano, organ, and keyboard work as she is for her experimental electronic projects; often her work integrates the two, blurring the lines between traditional composition and research-based modernism.

Coverdale began studying music and piano at age 5. An improvisational virtuoso at a young age, she had composed and performed her own music before age 10. Her mother is an Estonian visual artist and her father a builder and entrepreneur. She was a competitive pianist until she went to Music school at The University of Western Ontario, where she studied piano, composition, and musicology with Gwen Beamish, Omar Daniel, David Myska, and Jay Hodgson. Canadian pianist Ann Southam presented her with the promising young artist award at The Contemporary Music Showcase in Toronto. At Western Coverdale became captivated by the practice of electroacoustic music and began integrating electronics and digital processes into her work. The Kurzweil K2500 was the first sampler she ever worked with. Her Masters thesis is a study of timbre and realism in recorded music which addresses how "reality" is constructed through sound design and recording technology.

Since age 13, Coverdale has been the organist and music director at several churches across Canada.Sacred music is an influence in her acoustic composition work, as is Estonian choral and folk music. She claims to be a saturationist, and says Napster has been her biggest influence.

Coverdale moved to Montreal in 2010, and took a new position as organist at St. John's Estonian Lutheran church in NDG. Since 2011, Coverdale has collaborated live and in studio with electronic composer Tim Hecker, most notably on his 2013 album Virgins. She has also collaborated with the digital information artist LXV (David Sutton). In 2012 she self-released a series of solo piano pieces called Triptych. In 2013 she composed music for Wind Controller called "Conversion Music" which was premiered at LMCML by Montreal clarinetist Suzu Enns. A rework of that piece appears as X4EWI" on Coverdale's 2015 solo album Aftertouches, released by Sacred Phrases in March, 2015. Coverdale is also a frequent collaborator with the writer Kara Crabb.