improvised & amplified music for viola | synthesizers | found sounds | pedals | loops

Devil and the Deep Blue Seethe 

 

We are very excited to premiere “Devil and the Deep Blue Seethe” at Sound Symposium XXII, on Thursday July 16th at the LSPU Hall. Thank you to Nicole Lizée for writing this incredibly cool new work for us!

Night Music #262 

 
Night Music is an improvisational music series held on the third Thursday of every month at The Ship Pub. It begins with an hour-long performance that serves as the anchor for the evening, after which the stage is opened up to anyone with an interest in improvising. Host Craig Squires puts together inspired groups of musicians who jam until their sonic exploration reaches a natural conclusion. Bring your instrument and join in on the fun!
 
Loopstitch features Kate Read (viola & pedals) and Michelle LaCour (synths, accordion & electronics), frequent collaborators since their first artistic foray together during Sound Symposium XIX (July 2018). Their shared creative practice began as a re-imagining of J.S. Bach's violin sonata no. 3 and led to the pair exploring a sonic world comprised of amplified viola; looping, reverb, and delay pedals; synthesizers; and found sounds. In 2025, they wrote and performed the live score for Oderin, a new movement theatre work, at the Arts and Culture Centre in St. John's.
 
Jan. 15 // The Ship // 9:30 // $10
 
Night Music is supported by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, and Recreation.

The Gerry Porter Award 

Kate and Michelle were honoured to receive the Gerry Porter Award for Creative Improvised Music at Sound Symposium XXI. This award commemorates Gerald C. Porter (1962-2016), a talented visual artist, designer, and humorist who made an indelible impact on the arts scene of St. John’s, Newfoundland, his hometown. Gerry loved boundary-pushing music and was part of the planning for this award.

The Gerry Porter Award for Creative Improvised Music consists of a $1000 prize, and is intended for an individual, group or organization based in Newfoundland and Labrador that produces or supports challenging music created by the will and spirit of the practitioner, known as creative improvised music. All genres of music are eligible, as long as they meet the key criteria of creative improvisation.

Hold Fast 

Hold Fast contemporary arts festival is one of the coolest events of St. John's summer! We were so happy to play at their opening night event with Riddle Fence.

 

 

Summer Dates in Ontario 

Thanks for the good times, Ontario! Loopstitch was happy to play at the Canadian Music Centre in Toronto inn support of Kate's solo album After on August 2nd, and Electric Eclectics in Meaford on August 4th.

Kate Read's solo album "After" released November 18, 2022 

Massive congratulations to Kate on the release of her first solo album, After, on Leaf Music, released November 18, 2022. Artfully mixing Baroque repertoire with experimental electronics, After delivers a stirring mix of antiquity and modernity from one of Newfoundland’s most in-demand violists. Read takes listeners on a journey that entwines the purity of Bach with the chaos of electronic improvisation in ways equally surprising and satisfying. She’s joined on the last track, "Aftermath," by award-winning audio engineer Michelle LaCour, whose improvisational synth stabs and found effects provide a counterpoint to Read’s modern interpretation of Bach. After features two new commissions by composers Andrew Staniland and Benton Roark.

Pre-order After on the Leaf Music website

Listen to Kate's interview with Mark Wigmore on Classical FM