Chrysalis

About This Show

Chrysalis is an evening of textured music ladened with vocal harmonies and symbiotic movement that explores the cyclical nature of growing up and rediscovering parts of oneself while also asking, "how much of who we will be is already who we are?”

About Ondine: 

Ondine began writing songs before she could even spell. As a toddler, the Brooklyn-raised, Chicago-based artist would sing while her mother wrote down the lyrics that flowed from her inspired young mind. For as long as she can remember, Ondine has used songwriting to process complex thoughts and emotions. 

Growing up, she ingested the sounds of Carole King, The Jackson Five, and Joni Mitchell. Before attending the renowned performing arts-focused LaGuardia High School, Ondine played in a children’s percussion ensemble learning instruments like djembe, marimba, and congas at an early age. She also played the violin and sang in a professional children’s choir, where she learned the foundations of classical, world and choral music, and traveled to perform for dignitaries like The Pope and then-President Obama. In high school, Ondine was a vocal major and studied classical music before relocating to Chicago to immerse herself in a new music scene and pursue her career. 

Today, Ondine’s songs are raw, honest, and textured expressions that draw from the pop, indie and folk that formed her early sonic environment as well as techniques like Close Harmonies, Found sounds and Storytelling, resulting in something entirely new. Ondine’s debut EP Baby Teeth (2018) reveals traces of her intrinsic abilities on songs like Sweet, where delicate glockenspiel and marimba melodies recall evenings of re-writing lullabies with her mother for fun. The 6-track project is sonically minimal and pared down, leaving room for playful moments in production, particularly on the standout Flex Lang-produced Shaking. New York I Luv U, an unornamented soundscape (produced by Ondine herself) emphasizes her haunting voice and elegiac storytelling. “I wrote Baby Teeth while I was in an emotionally abusive relationship,” Ondine says about her debut project. “The music was the best way I knew how to process and deal with that situation.”

In 2022, Ondine followed up with Drool for Lust, a sonically ethereal and wandering project that elevated her more acoustic, nostalgic early sound. With contributions from Chicago producers Acassi, Fingy and Computer Love, Ondine’s second EP is gripping, futuristic, and metallic. Its sultry basslines, experimental pop and echoing vocals punctuate the three-track offering. Drool For Lust began as a concept — a storybook series dedicated to exploring what makes us “drool” and Lust is only the story’s first chapter, with Love and Life yet to come.

Early praise for Ondine’s music has led her to stages at popular Chicago venues like Empty Bottle and Thalia Hall as well as New York City’s Union Pool, The Bitter End, Rockwood and Much More. Over the course of her career so far, Ondine has opened for the likes of Emily Yacina, Homeshake, Charlotte de Santos, Maude LeTour, Shamir and Injury Reserve. “My music feels most at home living in the spaces between genres” Ondine says of the expansive sound she’s creating now. “It has the ability to adapt to new environments while still remaining authentically itself” With her beautifully expressive stories and unfaltering musical experimentation, Ondine is creating a spellbinding sonic universe of her own.

Artist Links: @ondine__ondine//www.ondine.onuniverse.com/