Wednesday, April 30th at 8pm, join ISSUE Project Room in celebrating the release of The Quiet Sun, a highly anticipated new LP by Sarah Hennies & Tristan Kasten-Krause. Originally presented as a short duet between Hennies & Kasten-Krause as part of ISSUE's 20th Anniversary activities in 2023, the duo have since expanded their collaboration. Set for official release this Spring, the album reflects the artists’ deep ties to the organization and the broader community.
Experimental music writer Vanessa Ague, creator of The Road to Sound blog, describes the album as an exploration of sonic observation, where “timbres across percussion and string instruments gradually meld into one; pitches gently float into consonance after bristling in dissonance.” She continues, “With The Quiet Sun, their debut duo album, the two musicians present two pieces that survey their nuanced approach to sound as it grows over time. The album, recorded at ISSUE Project Room, presents two works that each show a different lens into the large-scale forms they have developed together.”
Each side of the album highlights the subtle, intricate movements of the duo’s long-form compositions. The A-side, “Axo,” unfolds from a delicate interplay of high-pitched tones, held taut and shimmering, gradually giving way to the bold resonance of gongs and a deep, steady pulse. The B-side, “Axonic,” takes on a darker, more ominous character—sharp scrapes, distant vibrations, and cutting distortions weave a sonic landscape shrouded in mystery, evoking the dim-lit corners of the room where it was recorded.
Though both compositions share thematic and technical elements, they reveal the vast possibilities inherent in the quietness of perception. Sounds blend seamlessly, creating an immersive listening experience that emphasizes the beauty of close attention and transformation over time. As Ague reflects, “Hennies and Kasten-Krause’s music reminds us that over time, anything can and will change—and there is beauty held in the patience of watching it unfold.”
ISSUE Members receive 50% off tickets for The Quiet Sun LP Release using their unique code at checkout, a discount to purchase the album at the event, and enjoy exclusive access to limited-capacity events.
Sarah Hennies is a composer based in Upstate NY whose work is concerned with a variety of musical, sociopolitical, and psychological issues including queer and trans identity, psychoacoustics, and the social and neurological conditions underlying creative thought. She is primarily a composer of acoustic ensemble music, but is also active in improvisation, film, and performance art. She presents her work internationally as both a composer and percussionist with notable performances at MoMA PS1 (NYC), Monday Evening Concerts (Los Angeles), Le Guess Who (Utrecht), Festival Cable (Nantes), send + receive (Winnipeg), O’ Art Space (Milan), Cafe Oto (London), ALICE (Copenhagen), and the Edition Festival (Stockholm). As a composer, she has worked with a wide array of performers and ensembles including Bearthoven, Bent Duo, Claire Chase, ensemble 0, Judith Hamann, R. Andrew Lee, The Living Earth Show, Talea Ensemble, Thin Edge New Music Collective, Two-Way Street, Nate Wooley, and Yarn/Wire. Her groundbreaking audio-visual work Contralto (2017) explores transfeminine identity through the elements of “voice feminization” therapy, featuring a cast of transgender women accompanied by a dense and varied musical score for string quartet and three percussionists. The work has been in high demand since its acclaimed premiere at ISSUE Project Room in 2017, with numerous performances taking place around North America, Europe, and Australia and was one of four finalists for the 2019 Queer|Art Prize. As a scholar and performer she is engaged with ongoing research about the percussion music of Iannis Xenakis and a recording project to document music by the American percussionist and composer Michael Ranta. Hennies is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Bard College. She is also an ISSUE Artistic Advisory Council Member, and has worked with the organization over a number of years.
Tristan Kasten-Krause is a bassist and composer living in Brooklyn, New York who’s work enlarges the minutiae of close tones and subtle gestures. As a bassist he has been credited with lending his “low-end authority to vital New York institutions” (the New Yorker) and praised for his “heavenly” (the Guardian) original compositions. His work exploring duration and expanded time has led to multiple sets on the Hudson Basilica’s 24-Hour Drone festival, performances of extended, endurance-based works with extreme metal band Scarcity, and the premiere of a marathon 6-hour opera (2023’s Stranger Love) for the LA Phil. Over the last decade Tristan has worked with adventurous and experimental artists such as Alvin Lucier, LEYA, Denardo Coleman, David First, Man Forever and Henry Threadgill. He has served as bassist in contemporary chamber ensembles including Argento New Music, Talea Ensemble, Wet Ink, Ensemble Signal and Contemporaneous. Tristan’s debut album of original compositions, 2021’s Potential Landscapes, features performances by soloists Lisel, Matt Evans and members of the Glenn Branca Ensemble and Cloud Nothings that have been elongated, warped and extended to create “beautiful, unearthly soundscapes” (WNYC). His most recent album of collaborative compositions, Images of One with violist Jessica Pavone, was released February 17th on Relative Pitch Records.
