Past Events

Paralleling his recent series devoted to the overlap between idea-based art, culture bound illnesses, and conceptual poetics, James Hoff is devoting his residency to exploring the concept of involuntary musical imagery, or earworms. Here he gives a performative lecture on his research and compositional strategies.

HPSCHD, John Cage’s legendary Gesamtkunstwerk is a mass media orgy, considered by many the wildest, largest, and loudest musical composition of the 20th century. Its very nature is inextricable from the tumult of the year it premiered, 1969. With Joel Chadabe, keyboardist Neely Bruce and video directed by Braley Eros.

Yarn/Wire plays premieres two new pieces for percussion and piano quartet by two of NYC's most exciting musicians, composer/multi-instrumentalist Tyondai Braxton and trumpeter/composer Peter Evans. Evans gives solo performance of his signature trumpet improvisations, and Tyondai Braxton + LAAND play a duo set.

A performance of electric guitar and voice by David Grubbs to celebrate the release of The Plain Where the Palace Stood, his first collection of songs since 2008. This concert draws material from the new album as well as from the trio Belfi / Grubbs / Pilia. 75 Dollar Bill (Rick Brown / Che Chen) open.

Launched in March 2013, ErstAEU is a new imprint from Erstwhile documenting young American post-electroacoustic musicians. This special one-time showcase night features all six artists from the first three releases: Anne Guthrie/Richard Kamerman, Graham Stephenson/Aaron Zarzutzki, and Joe Panzner/Greg Stuart.

Recognized among contemporary music’s most gifted interpreters, new-music pianist Joseph Kubera is hailed for the unrelenting stamina, precision, and grace of his performances. In this intimate piano concert, Kubera performs works by Julius Eastman, Michael Byron, “Blue” Gene Tyranny, and Stuart Saunders Smith.

SOLD OUT! A new solo commission by dancer Michelle Boulé, WONDER is an invitation to witness a body in a performance encounter where a shared space of curiosity and possibility is laid bare. In a continuous cycle of costumes and personas, Boulé explores archetypes and definitions of gender, identity, and virtuosity.

A series of compositions by Bojan Vuletic, L'Écume des jours’ (The foam of the days) is inspired by and dedicated to French polymath Boris Vian's novel of the same title. With an unusual chamber ensemble including Nate Wooley (trumpet), Dan Peck (tuba), Jacqueline Kerrod (harp), and the Mivos Quartet.

ISSUE presents Nate Wooley’s Seven Storey Mountain IV, a 7 part song cycle for ecstatic instruments and tape. Bringing together all sections of the work for the first time, the concert features an all-star cast of Chris Corsano, Ryan Sawyer, C. Spencer Yeh, Matt Moran, Chris Dingman, and TILT Brass sextet.

ISSUE and Unseen Worlds present a rare North American performance by Ethiopia's most famous living pianist and composer, Girma Yifrashewa. A highly accomplished performer, Yifrashewa performs works by Chopin, Schumann, Debussy, and Mozart, as well as a set of his own compositions informed by Ethiopian harmonies.

ISSUE hosts the NY premiere of Friend of Essex—a film homage to the prolific Black gay author Essex Hemphill. Written and Directed by Amir Dixon, the film mixes one-on-one interviews, group interviews, narrative pieces and poetry inspired by Hemphill’s writing and the 1989 film Tongues Untied.

ISSUE presents a duo performance by celebrated singer-songwriter Josephine Foster with her husband and collaborator, guitarist Victor Herrero. Esteemed for her timeless and arresting voice, Foster’s rock and folk veiled work has reimagined a disparate spectrum of references in a distinctive body of songwriting.