(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Vocalist and looping artist Julia Easterlin comes to MASS MoCA on July 14, 2012, at 8 pm, merging composition, production, and performance in one fell swoop. One part siren and one part technology enthusiast, she uses a looping machine to build a live chorus on stage. For her concert at MASS MoCA, Easterlin will perform with her new band, enhancing her already-rich sounds with two drummers and a bassist. Her unique sound has gained her performances at Lollapalooza, SXSW, MIDEM, CMJ, and the TEDxWomen Conference.

Trained as a classical pianist, a jazz vocalist, and a dancer, Easterlin began performing at 15, and went on to study music at Berklee College of Music in Boston. After garnering acclaim from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, the John Lennon Foundation, Downbeat Magazine, and the Gibson/Baldwin GRAMMY Jazz Ensembles, she ventured into underground electronic music, experimenting with her voice by manipulating it to mimic electronically generated sound. Combining electronic and acoustic textures with the musical roots of her classical and jazz training, Easterlin composes and performs with the assistance of a loop machine, recording and maintaining up to 20 different loops over the course of one song.

Easterlin thinks of her music as a work of visual art: “I visualize a song as a series of colors and shapes. Each sound I make has a corresponding shape, and the song form is represented by a pattern of all the shapes moving together. What I see in my head over the course of a song looks like a scrolling quilt or a painting that moves.”

Tickets are $12 in advance and $16 on the day of the show. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% discount. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams, open from 11 AM to 5 PM closed Tuesdays, until June 20. Starting June 21, the Box Office is open 10 AM to 6 PM every day. Tickets can also be purchased via phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or online at MASS MoCA.

Julia Easterlin’s performance is part of MASS MoCA’s Alt Cabaret series, which presents emerging and established artists of different disciplines. Drinks from the MASS MoCA bar and dinner from Lickety Split are available before and during the show. Concert-goers might also enjoy the other Alt Cabarets scattered throughout MASS MoCA’s summer season, including singer/musician Patrick Watson on Saturday, June 30, and comedian Ophira Eisenberg on Saturday, August 18.