Kirin McElwain is a cellist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer working in the realms of experimental, improvised, contemporary classical, and popular music.
In her own sound and compositional practice, she uses cello, modular synthesizer, and voice to explore the spaces between formal structures and chaos, western classical harmony and noise, and ideas of “goodness” and “correctness.”
Her self-released solo debut EP Viriditas received praise from Foxy Digitalis, A Closer Listen, and made the 2023 end of year lists at Anxious Magazine and A Closer Listen.
Trained as a classical cellist, Kirin is equally at home in concert halls, recording studios, and DIY spaces. As a cellist, she has performed on various film and television scores (HBO, National Geographic, Gimlet Media, PBS, NPR), contemporary artists (Post Malone, Ioanna Gika, This Will Destroy You), contemporary dance concerts (Claudia Schreier Company, Harlem Dance Theater, Triskelion Arts), mixed media installations (the MET, James Cohan Gallery, Neue Galerie), and traditional classical and contemporary classical concerts (Carnegie Hall, National Sawdust, Kimmel Center), in addition to many community-run venues.
Kirin has been an artist in residence at Elektron Musikstudion (Stockholm, SE), Smith College (MA, USA), and Westben Center for the Arts (ON, CAN) and is a Fall 2024 Fellow in the New Amsterdam Records Composers Lab.
(September 2024)