Ultima closes with attention turned to composer Arne Nordheim. Acclaimed Nordic group Serena-Maneesh & vocal ensemble perform Somnambulism, a tribute to Nordheim's musical spirit. His "Flashing" is performed by outstanding accordionist Frode Haltli, alongside works by Magnar Åm, Aldo Clementi, and Hans Abrahamsen.
An afternoon concert pairs solo piano performances by the young Finnish musician Antti Tolvi and acclaimed composer/performer Lubomyr Melnyk, architect of the Continuous Music method. Both venture far outside the classical tradition, sharing an emphasis on the instrument's capacity for extended harmony and overtone.
Radical Danish artist Henning Christiansen’s performance work "Requiem of Art (NYC) Fluxorum Organum" receives its first NY presentation, in a new interpretation developed by Anton Lukoszevieze, who leads the superb Ne(x)tworks ensemble. The program includes works by Arne Nordheim, Shelley Burgon and Kristin Norderval.
Berlin-based Danish sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard presents Faust and other works by the pioneering electronic musician Else Marie Pade (not present). Acclaimed piano/percussion quartet Yarn/WIre perform works by composers Øyvind Torvund, Simon Steen-Andersen and Anna Thorvaldsdottir/Sigurdur Gudjonsson.
Catherine Christer Hennix appears alongside her Berlin-based just intonation ensemble Chora(s)san Time-Court Mirage as part of Ultima. In their first-ever US performance the group premieres Blues Alif Lam MimM, intended to reveal the blues' origins in the eastern musical traditions of raga and maqam musics.
ISSUE and WSB100 present a celebration of the legacy of William S. Burroughs during the 100th anniversary of the writer's birth. Actor, director, and writer Steve Buscemi and composer/multi-instrumentalist Elliott Sharp collaborate, creating a collage of sound and words from texts by William Burroughs.
The US Premiere of Evan Calder Williams' film "Violent X" features a live improvised soundtrack by Tokyo-based Taku Unami with Williams, joining a work of pulp and radical history to early instances of cinema narration and accompaniment. In a second set, Unami collaborates with Eugene Thacker and Jarrod Fowler.
ISSUE & Antholgy team up for an eclectic/electric evening with Jason Lescalleet, one of America’s most dedicated sound artists. Lescalleet commissioned 13 artists to create videos for the 13 tracks on the first disc of "Songs About Nothing", tonight features the audio-visual album plus shorts by collaborators.
Leftfield British electronics producer Mark Fell presents a tonal mix of extended duration including new and unreleased works by himself as well as references to the various traditions that have informed his practice, establishing a dialogue between techno, the American minimalists and tonal spectralism.
Tomutonttu AKA Finnish sound artist Jan Anderzén (Kemialliset Ystävät) returns to ISSUE for a rare US show— an ecstatic combination of reed streams, mutilated voices, groovy animal noises. Italian free jazz combo Jooklo Duo collaborate with guitarist Bill Nace, best known as half of Body/Head.
David Grubbs reads from "Records Ruin the Landscape: John Cage, the Sixties, and Sound Recording", his long-awaited study of the role of sound recordings in representing experimental music of the 1960s. Grubbs is joined in discussion by a "jukebox jury" including Branden W. Joseph, Lisa Kahlden, and Marina Rosenfeld.
Unsound closes with a spotlight on Bocian Records. Kaptial merge electro-acoustics and psychedelic guitar. James Rushford & Joe Talia engage a palette of extended instrumental timbre and submerged synthesizers. Master Norwegian free jazz drummer Paal Nilssen-Love plays solo.