Caroline Jesalva
Caroline Jesalva (she/her) is a Chicago-based improviser, violinist-vocalist, 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, and free jazz. She has performed in spaces across the US, including Jordan Hall, MASS MOCA, Compound Yellow, Oracle Egg, Elastic Arts Foundation, Moeser Auditorium, Hideout, Hungry Brain, Bombyx Center for Arts, Rosehill Cemetery, the International Museum of Surgical Science, and many more.
Caroline actively collaborates as one-fifth of the improvising collective BananaAcid and regularly performs in duos with cellist Katinka Kleijn and saxophonist Sarah Clausen. In addition to her personal performance practice, she is the Co-Artistic Director of Music in the Garden, an independent music and visual art festival in Chicago for improvisers, creatives, and experimental artists.
Featured Artworks
In Performance at Elastic Arts, 2025
Image by Tim Schmoll
Eclipsed Bodies, 2024
Image by Ricardo Ames
Five Senses Installation at Oak Park Library, 2023
Image by Kayla Michele
SYSTEM OF THE ARTS | ARTS OF THE SYSTEM, 2023
Image by Caroline Jesalva