"An architect of sound, carefully creating his songs from a vast warehouse of melodic material"
Queens Tribune
Kris Wettstein (A Microscope) makes music with global roots and swing-for-the-heavens ambition.
A committed musician based in New York, he has collaborated with Grey McMurray (itsnotmeitsyou), and performed with Craig Shepard (Wandelweiser), Pauline Kim Harris (Wordless Music Orchestra), David First (Notekillers), and Esther Noh (Either/Or), and has performed at notable venues including Spectrum, Judson Memorial Church and Rockwood Music Hall.
Kris draws on global experiences in creating his music. Born in Canada, he spent his adolescence in Saudi Arabia. In November 2009, he travelled to Dakar, Senegal where he performed to thousands of people with pop star Carlou D, including an appearance at the Festival Mondial des Arts Négres (World Festival Of Black Arts) alongside artists such as Youssou N’Dour and Busta Rhymes. At this time he also collaborated with several other well known West African musicians including Daby Balde (Senegal), and Alfadio Dara (Guinea). After this, he travelled to Poland and spent a 6-month period living in Krakow making collages from field recordings of ambient noise in large cathedrals.
Kris's music is deeply spiritual, and draws on experiences he's had playing for various faith communities. He is the music director for Mott Haven Reformed Church in the Bronx, a position he has held since 2012. Transformative experiences playing gospel music there led him to studies with Damien Need (Richard Smallwood, Karen Clark-Sheard). Kris is also the lead musician for Malkhut, a contemplative Jewish congregation in Queens.
As a musician, Kris is interested in creating sounds on another scale, with small changes occurring slowly. In 2012 he toured the East Coast playing his works alongside those of Morton Feldman, whose spacious piano textures are a particular influence on Kris’s music. In 2014, he released an EP of original songs ‘For Nothing Holds You In’, recorded with Grey McMurray, Dan Sedwick (Kelly Polar) and Marjorie Gere (Boston Public Quartet).
Kris studied music at Walla Walla University, and at Rice University, where he graduated with a Master’s in Piano Performance. He resides in Queens, New York.