sylvi macCormac’s remarkable life of sound

On the eve of her 60th birthday, Art Heals caught up with acclaimed Vancouver musician and composer sylvi macCormac ("aka elviS"), who turned to soundscapes after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. With influences ranging from Buffy Sainte-Marie and Bruce Cockburn to Barry Truax and Hildegard Westerkamp, sylvi has produced works for Co-op Radio, the Vancouver Adapted Music Society (VAMS), and the Utsam Witness Project. In 2012, she was named one of Vancouver's Remarkable Women, and released her first documentary film, Patience and Absurdity, about her relationship with her mother who was facing dementia. Whether she's profiling social justice and Indigenous rights issues or fellow artists and people with disabilities, sylvi's work explores the intersection of pain and beauty and gives back to the communities that have supported her along the way.