Rite of Passage

Rite of Passage stages site-specific audio-visual ceremonies in sacred and unconventional spaces. Each edition is composed for its room and the community gathered inside it, uniting music, light, and ritual. We commission new works and present them as rite, not concert.

Editions

Malibu (2026, Central Presbyterian Church)
Wintertide Ceremony (2025, Tiny Minotaur Tavern)
7038634357 (2025, Central Presbyterian Church)
Stone Circle Theatre (2025, Ridgewood Presbyterian Church)
Rite of Passage II (2024, dadaLab)
Rite of Passage: New Game + (2023, University of Texas)
Rite of Passage (2023, Suite650)
Rite of Passage beta (2021, Freq System)

Works

Rite of Passage II (2024, Alex DL, self-release)
My Device (2024, Dawn DX, Slagwerk)
Dawn Adventure DX (2023, Dawn DX, meta physica)
Rite of Passage (2023, Alex DL, Growth in Decay)

Rite of Passage: Malibu

Central Presbyterian Church | Austin, Texas
May 2, 2026

Act I: Vonne
Act II: Andrea Cortez
Act III: Malibu

Booking: Death of Affect and Bengr Studio
Photography: Dé Randle, Nadia Elchmaissani

Rite of Passage and Death of Affect welcomes Malibu for her first Texas performance in support of her premier album, Vanities.

Malibu is a French composer and vocalist whose art is bound to meditation. A musician by trade but an allegorist in practice, her compositions exist as fragments of an imagination as wide as the sea and as open as the sky above it. An ephemeral yet everlasting sanctuary for romantic musings on cities, seas, and the self to take place comfortably.

Andrea Cortez, MM, MT-BC is a board certified music therapist and internationally sought after teacher and musician. Andrea designs restorative listening spaces and composes music for healing, resilience and meditation. She works with students and clients around the world sharing her unique approach to sound medicine.

Stage design sponsored in part by Tillery Street Plant Company.

This project is supported in part by the Live Music Fund of Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment.

Rite of Passage: 7038634357

Central Presbyterian Church | Austin, Texas
September 26, 2025

Act I: Mooncloud
Act II: Alex DL & panoptikon.party
Act III: Dawn DX & Ben G R
Act IV: 7038634357

Booking: Death of Affect and Bengr Studio
Photography: Dé Randle, Connor Crow, Nadia Elchmaissani

Rite of Passage returns with a one-night collision of sound and vision in the vaulted expanse of Central Presbyterian Church. Beneath the stained glass and timber arches, light and tone converge in a shared act of listening: an ephemeral ritual carried by artists at the edge of form and feeling.

Neo Gibson, who records, performs, and produces under the alias 𝟕𝟎𝟑𝟖𝟔𝟑𝟒𝟑𝟓𝟕, makes their first Texas appearance. Their music, defined by unfamiliar texture, melodic rigor, and an idiosyncratic emotional tenor, creates a contemplative sound world that will linger and resonate long after it fades.

𝐃𝐚𝐰𝐧 𝐃𝐗 performs a distilled survey of their extended discography, expanded by a new live piano element, reframing familiar works in an intimate light.

𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐃𝐋 unveils the next chapter in the titular Rite of Passage series. Written specifically for this venue, this set charts a new direction for the Rite sound, deepening the project’s exploration of ritual, space, and collective experience.

𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 guides us through the inspirations behind their recent release 9 Point Cay, weaving in never-before-heard tracks to be premiered exclusively at this event.

The new audio-visual experience is carried by the precision you’ve come to expect from projection designer 𝐁𝐞𝐧 𝐆 𝐑, newcomer 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐤𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲, and audio engineer Vital Audio. A fine-tuned Danley system is elevated by the cathedral-like acoustics of the great hall, transforming sound into architecture.

Rite of Passage: Stone Circle Theatre

June 7, 2025

Act I: Desvelada
Act II: Ah Dek
Act III: Alex DL

Sound & SM: Matthew Shogi

Two new acts in the historic Ridgewood Presbyterian Church.

In Act I, Invocation, NYC musician Desvelada contemplates faded memories in the late spring sunset.

In Act II, Ascension, Ah Dek performs an aquatic, deconstructed trance set.

In Act III, Rite of Passage II, Alex DL performs the live rendition of his new album, journeying into the heart of an ancient temple which holds revelatory secrets. This version has added modular synth elements.

Rite of Passage II

June 22, 2024
Dadalab | Austin, TX

Act I: Vonne
Act II: Alex DL
Act III: Dawn DX
Act IV: Nick McDonnough

Animation: Don Boyage & Sam Blumberg

Rite of Passage II builds on the world of the Rite.

In Act I, Invocation, Austin musician Vonne invokes primal rituals and sacred rythyms, set in an ethereal fairy fountain.

In Act II, My Device, Dawn DX performs an intimate 13-minute audio/visual movement, exploring themes of loss, attachment, and discovery.
“I’ve lost My Phone ! It has to be here Somewhere …”

In Act III, Rite of Passage II, Alex DL premieres a live rendition of his new album, journeying into the heart of an ancient temple which holds revelatory secrets. 

This project was financed in part by the City of Austin’s Live Music Fund Event Program.