photo by Alix Forgeot
Lisa Conway-Bühler is a Swiss-Canadian composer, sound artist, songwriter, researcher, recordist, and mixer. Her recordings have been described as "ethereal, minimalist, experimental, unnerving…and downright elegant" (AUX): in her sound worlds, analog synthesizers, drum machines, and electronics often live alongside string arrangements and woodwinds.
An artist who continually tries to push herself into the unfamiliar, her multifaceted CV includes original scores and songs for documentaries, short films, and theatre productions, site-specific multi-channel sound and light installations, collaborations with contemporary dancers and performance artists, and an array of renowned creative residencies. She is an alumni of the final Red Bull Music Academy (2018, Berlin), as well as the Canadian Film Centre's year-long Slaight Music Residency (2016).
Her discography involves a steady output of self-produced, recorded, and (often) independently released albums under various monikers, as well as multiple acclaimed records with former band Del Bel, who obtained a SOCAN Songwriting Prize Nomination in 2015. Lisa's solo releases as L CON have received positive press from publications like The Fader, Uproxx, the CBC, Tiny Mix Tapes, Exclaim, and Earmilk, and her compositions / installations have been presented at the Guelph Jazz Festival, the Sonic Arts Research Centre (Belfast), the in/Future Festival, the Canadian Music Centre, Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal, and the Music Gallery. She has collaborated on and contributed to performances and films presented at the D’Haus (Dusseldorf), The Harbourfront Centre, the Summerworks festival, TIFF, Hot Docs, and the Inside Out Festival.
Lisa holds a BFA Honours in Music from York University, and an MA in Sonic Arts from Queen’s University Belfast, where she graduated with distinction. She is based primarily in Montréal, and currently pursuing a SSHRC-funded Individualized PhD in Fine Arts at Concordia University.
In 2023, Lisa released the instrumental “SOUNDMILL improvisations” on limited edition tape (via Toronto label Halocline Trance), as well a full-length album of songs (vinyl + digital) on Idée Fixe records.
Additional recent work includes a contribution to MaerzMusik’s 27-hour livestreamed speaking clock (Berlin), the original score for feature documentary "Small Town Pride", and the mounting of a large multi-channel installation in an old mill ruin, as well as engineering work for a number of artists including Stefana Fratila (Halocline Trance), New Chance (we are time), Jason Doell (Whited Sepulchre Records), and Isla Craig (Idée Fixe).
