Meredith Bates

A talented improvisor and performer, award-winning violinist Meredith Bates is known for her elegant and virtuosic sound.

She has spent most of the past twenty years recording and performing around the world in celebrated ensembles, such as Pugs and Crows (JUNO winner 2013, WCMA 2016), Gentle Party, and projects led by Vancouver music icons Tony Wilson, Ford Pier, Leah Abramson, and Peggy Lee. She is a collaborator at heart and relishes any opportunity to join forces with other likeminded artists.

Recently, Meredith has been focusing on her own projects. She has founded a new instrumental sextet ‘Like the Mind’, with renowned improvisors from Canada and Sweden (Peggy Lee, Lisa Ullen, Lisen Rylander Love, Elisa Thorn, and Emma Augustsson).

In the Fall 2020, Meredith’s artist residency at Western Front in Vancouver culminated with the composition and performance of an immersive multi-disciplinary work called Sound Migrations.

In December 2020, she released an epic ambient and experimental debut solo album, ‘If Not Now‘, produced by Chris Gestrin on Phonometrograph. Featuring layers of processed violin and viola, it is inspired by our relationship to one another and our natural surroundings.

Meredith lives on unceded Coast Salish territory. She is the artistic director of the Vancouver Improvised Arts Society (VIAS), a non-profit organization aimed at supporting the creation and presentation of improvised works by womxn, BIPOC, and LGBTQ2S+ artists.