ISSUE Project Room & Anthology Film Archives present a special screening of Robert Ashley’s Music with Roots in the Aether: The Music of David Behrman (1975). Throughout Fall 2025, ISSUE recognizes Behrman’s innovative contributions to electronic and experimental music in the lead up to the annual Gala celebration.
February celebrates the individuality of instrumentation with a week of horns, percussion, string and voice. Suzanne Fiol curates in collaboration with 4 musicians; Chris McIntyre: A Week of Horns, Billy Martin: A Week of Percussion, Zach Layton: A Week of Strings, Sarah Ibrahim: A Week of Voice.
A conversation with Robert Ashely, scored using one of Ashley’s early graphic scores, "In memoriam…Esteban Gomez" (1963).
The first evening of a series observing the legacy of experimental music collective the Sonic Arts Union and its founding members: David Behrman, Alvin Lucier, Gordon Mumma, and the late Robert Ashley (1930-2014), features both performances from Sonic Arts Union members and stagings of their compositions.
A benefit for ISSUE, acclaimed electronics duo Matmos perform scenes from Robert Ashley's groundbreaking television-opera "Perfect Lives", with opening performance by HARIBO. They present the first and final acts, “The Park”, featuring string ensemble, and “The Backyard”, both accompanied by new video work.
Experiments in Opera has commissioned ten composers to each write a ten-minute opera to be premiered by the contemporary music ensemble Hotel Elefant. 'New Shorts' brings a diverse group of composers together to expand the boundaries of opera, including Robert Ashley, Jason Cady, Joe Diebes, Ruby Fulton, and many more.
Robert Ashley’s Vidas Perfectas, a new Spanish-language production of his ground-breaking opera Perfect Lives (1983), will premiere at Irondale Theater in Brooklyn, directed by Alex Waterman. Starring Ned Sublette, with Elio Villafranca, Elisa Santiago, Abraham Gomez Delgado, and music produced by Peter Gordon.
The first performance of Robert Ashley’s Vidas Perfectas, the Spanish-language version of the ground-breaking opera Perfect Lives (1983) directed by Alex Waterman, premieres at the Irondale Theater in Brooklyn. Starring Ned Sublette with Elio Villafranca and music produced by Peter Gordon.
In anticipation of Vidas Perfectas, an all-new Spanish language version of Robert Ashley's classic made-for-TV opera Perfect Lives, ISSUE hosts a screening of three episodes from the original Perfect Lives .
The DownTown Ensemble performs sound/text pieces by Robert Ashley, Daniel Goode, Richard Kostelanetz, Jackson Mac Low and Anne Tardos. Featured performers include Bill Hellermann, and downtown stalwarts Peter Zummo, Alex Waterman, Andrew Bolotowsky, and Daniel Goode. Songs by David Garland round out the evening.