Molly Pease is an LA-based vocal artist and composer whose singing has been described as “sonically mesmerizing” (LA Weekly) and her genre-defying compositions described as “achingly gorgeous” (New Classic LA). Known for her singular interpretations of music in a range of styles, Molly brings expressiveness and theatricality to every performance. She is well-versed in folk, jazz, classical, opera, experimental, contemporary, and improvisational music. Passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration, she merges music, movement, and visuals in her work; performing in and composing for operas, albums, and concerts.
Molly uses improvisation and extended vocal techniques to achieve an ethereal sound described by Emerging Indie Bands as “not of this world,” and draws listeners in with memorable melodies and textural harmonic soundscapes. She is inspired by nature and speaks honestly about mental health in her music.
Her most recent work, erde dreams, incorporates solo voice, electronics and a trio to explore mental health through relationships and experiences with earthly phenomena, and was premiered on the Tuesdays @ Monk Space concert series in 2024. Waterways and Dwellings, a collaboration with poet Molly Bendall and produced by Synchromy in 2023, turns toward Ballona Creek in Culver City as a source of ecological and cultural knowledge, combining a chamber vocal and instrumental ensemble with electronics and field recordings to tell the creek’s story. Her latest album, Inner Astronomy, incorporates her father’s oceanic, bird-inspired poetry that focuses on struggles with depression and addiction and merges original music with crayon drawings, fashion design, and collage.
Her original song Transform was recorded by critically acclaimed vocalist Alicia Olatuja and featured on the album Intuition: From the Minds of Women, released in 2019. Molly’s music has also been performed at Blue Note Tokyo, the Jazz Bakery, Monk Space, among others. She was a 2024 Composer Fellow at the N.E.O. Voice Festival.
Molly is currently working with librettist Divya Maus on a new opera exploring myths and truths about women called Hysteria, which was selected for Overtone Industries’ Original Vision development program. It builds upon Molly’s work that centered around women and the supernatural during her residency with Barcelona-based Cel del Nord in November 2020.
As a performer, Molly has worked with numerous companies and ensembles, in addition to her solo work. Recent performances include Songs and Dances of Imaginary Lands (Sue) and Cynossema: A Dirge from the Dog’s Tomb (Kassandra) with Overtone Industries, The Marvelous Puppet Show with theatre dybbuk, Outcast at the Gate (Ismene) with Impulse New Music Festival, Conference of the Birds (Soloist) with the Resonance Collective, and Sweet Land (Soloist) with The Industry. A specialist in new music vocal performance, she has also performed on the world premiere of Sidney Hopson’s Through the Looking Glass with Wild Up, Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians with the TAPS LA Music Festival, and Stockhausen’s Stimmung with HEX.
As a member of Tonality, she sang on the recording by Carla Patullo, So She Howls, which won the 2024 GRAMMY for Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album. She also sang on Wild Up’s 2024 GRAMMY Award-nominated album, Julius Eastman Vol. 3: If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?
Molly is a member and assistant director of the experimental vocal sextet HEX, and regularly performs with LA Master Chorale, LA Choral Lab, and Tonality. She has performed with Björk, Tune-Yards, Sigur Rós, and Kronos Quartet. Film and TV credits include vocals on The Legend of Ochi (2025), Down Low (2024), Shoes Off (2023), Hulu’s Castle Rock (2019), and CBS’s Strange Angel (2019).
Molly completed her MFA in Jazz Studies at California Institute of the Arts in 2017, and received her BFA at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York.