About - Kali Malone

Kali Malone is a composer and musician primarily working with pipe organ, chamber ensembles, and electroacoustic formats. Her music is patient and focused, built on a foundation of evolving harmonic cycles that draw out latent emotional resonances; letting go of expectations of duration and breadth offers a space for reflection and contemplation. In her hands, experimental reinterpretations of centuries-old polyphonic compositional methods and historical tuning systems become portals to new ways of perceiving harmony, structure, and introspection.

Born in 1994 in Denver, Colorado, Malone grew up studying classical vocal music while also being closely connected to adjacent underground experimental music scenes. After relocating to Sweden at age 18, she became involved with Elektronmusikstudion (EMS), where she had access to state-funded studios equipped with historical Buchla synthesizers and tape machines. This environment significantly expanded her practice in synthesis, tape music, and acousmatic spatial composition. From 2014 to 2019, she worked as a sound engineer at Fylkingen, the legendary intermedia artist-run venue, while simultaneously studying electroacoustic composition at the Royal College of Music (KMH). During this period, she also interned as a pipe organ tuner. This experience profoundly shaped her musical development and deepened her interest in organ composition, historical temperaments and just intonation. Her unique position between academia and experimental music not only shaped her network of collaborators, but also influenced the trajectory of her music, reflecting a mergence of raw sonic experimentation within formal compositional structures.

Her studio albums, including The Sacrificial Code (2019), Living Torch (2022), Does Spring Hide Its Joy (2023), and All Life Long (2024), have received international acclaim. All Life Long was nominated for Best Classical Music at the 2025 Swedish Grammys. The New Yorker described it as “a hushed, gnawingly beautiful suite that intertwines organ, choir, and brass in seamless harmonic cycles.” Her music is often described as meditative and immersive, drawing listeners into states of deep listening.

She has performed extensively at venues including Lincoln Center, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Philharmonie de Paris, Thomaskirche Leipzig, Southbank Centre, Bozar, Berghain, Unsound Festival, and Primavera, among many other museums, concert halls, churches, and festivals across Europe, North America, Japan, and Australia. Her commissioned work includes projects for INA GRM, the 2023 Venice Music Biennale, and the 2024 Venice Art Biennale, where she composed the music with Caterina Barbieri for Massimo Bartolini’s exhibition at the Italian Pavilion. Additional commissions include The Art Gallery of New South Wales, for which she composed music for the major Louise Bourgeois retrospective, and Lafayette Anticipations.

In parallel with her solo work, Malone maintains an active collaborative practice. She has worked with musicians such as Drew McDowall, Stephen O’Malley, Lucy Railton, Caterina Barbieri, Macadam Ensemble, Leila Bordreuil, Ellen Arkbro, and Maria W Horn, the latter with whom she co-founded the record label and concert series XKatedral.

Interviews

2025 TANK MAGAZINE (Issue 105)

2025 COEVAL (Issue SS25)

2025 Lost and Sound podcast

2025 Rolling Stone Japan

2024 The New Yorker (December 9 issue)

2024 France 24

2024 Libération

2024 The New York Times

2024 The Quietus

2024 Uncut (February 2024)

2023 The Guardian