Broadcasting live from PS21's Winter Festival The Dark. Kara-Lis Cloverdale performs "Music for Organ" at Saint James Church in Chatham, NY. Introduced by Matthew O'Neill, host of Panther Mountain Sound.

Pipe organ is a connective tissue throughout Kara-Lis Coverdale’s opus, underpinning her spectral understanding of sound and harmony. After a hiatus from the instrument for strict focus on electronic touring from 2016–2018, she began to explore solo pipe organ performance internationally. Underlying these works is a spectral sensitivity tempered with animism and weavings of harmonic interjections, described by New York Times writer Jon Pareles as “elevated, disembodied contemplation, patiently celestial.” As part of The Dark, Coverdale presents a program of newly created works for the organ at St. James Church in Chatham along with previously composed material.

Kara-Lis Coverdale, a unique voice in the contemporary music landscape, is a Canadian composer and musician of Estonian descent. Her musical journey began at the age of 12 with organ playing and music direction, experiences that would deeply influence her work. Coverdale’s music is a temporal anomaly, weaving the hyper-future with sacred histories, bridging the digital and acoustic worlds, and creating soundscapes that seem both ancient and new. Her works, praised for their meditative qualities and depth, explore multiple realities, often merging into a unique auditory experience. This approach reflects her extensive expertise in both electronic and acoustic musical languages, which she manipulates with the finesse of a virtuoso.

The Dark is a new annual festival from PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance that celebrates and elevates the depths of winter. Taking place February 16–22, 2026, the festival will unfold at PS21 and across Columbia County—in theatres, restaurants, libraries, saunas, and outdoor public spaces. Featuring more than 60 international artists and over 80 performances, The Dark offers a packed week of world-class contemporary performance, installation, music, dance, and theatre—all exploring winter as a time of community and solitude, fire and ice, darkness and light. A major new attraction for the region, the festival positions Columbia County as a year-round cultural destination—not just a summer one. It is a light in the dark—and The Dark is the light.