Joel DeStefano is an interdisciplinary artist based in Vancouver, the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh people. His work explores listening as a creative process, collaboration, play and relationships between audience and performer.

 

Trained as a classical and jazz musician, he studied music theory and composition at the University of Western Ontario (BMus). He later attended Simon Fraser University’s School of Contemporary Art (MFA) where his thesis research was based in acoustic ecology and critical practices in theatre and performance. He has collaborated on award winning work with theatre artists, dancers, software engineers, and writers and has performed as an improvising artist in a variety of contexts.

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He was a co-founder and co-artistic director of Proximity Arts, an interdisciplinary arts collective. He is also an educator, running workshops and classes that develop critical thought, creative problem solving and resources for spontaneity, engagement and collaboration. His community work involves creating and developing programs in theatre, film and creative writing at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts and acting as board president at the Improvised Arts Society.​

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