Monarch Butterfly by rocío sánchez (2026 AIR) features Melissa Almaguer (tap dance and percussion) and Kenneth Jiménez (double bass). Together, the trio explores the elusive monarch’s migratory journey through sound and movement, with each instrument articulating distinct states of motion.
Isabella Thorpe-Woods presents "Envelop/e," her second program as ISSUE’s 2026 Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellow. Bringing together choreographers Jade Manns and Ella Dawn W-S for site-specific duets, they navigate presence and absence, repetition and rupture, and the tension between inherited geometries and shifting landscapes.
"Spiriting Off" is a new solo work by luthier Webb Crawford (2026 AIR) for electric guitar, tenor banjo, and five-string banjo.
ISSUE closes the summer season with the return of Matana Roberts (2009 AIR). Opening the evening, Ben Vida (2013 AIR) will perform music from his 2026 release, "Oblivion Seekers" with vocalist Sara Magenheimer.
SKELETON$ usual quintet is expanded here for a night of new compositions, arrangements and ideas. The band will explore the outer limits of their work, with a large ensemble drawn from the wide spectrum of New York's underground music scene.
Cellist and composer Frances-Marie Uitti pioneered a revolutionary cello technique. Using two bows in one hand, she plays four-part sustained chordal passages and is able to execute intricate polyphony. Kurtag, Nono, Scelsi, and Andriessen among other composers have written for and dedicated works to her.
Acid Birds includes members from Peeesseye and Gold Sparkle Band, and released their self-titled LP in 2009 (QBICO). Andrew Barker formed the trio to perform his composition (also titled “Acid Birds”) and in early 2009 the band gave the piece’s second performance at ISSUE Project Room.
Seaven Teares, led by New York composer Charlie Looker, presents new work drawing influences from ancient European music, post-industrial folk and simple pop. Brooklyn-based indie-classical band, Build, led by composer Matt McBane, also sharing new work.
Mia Zabelka's new solo project, focuses on the development of experimental improvisational techniques with the voice and violin, a process she calls "automatic playing." She explores the relationships among the body, gesture, sound, machines and space using live electronics to expand the electroacoustic sonic spectrum.
Michelle Nagai presents new work for the MARtLET, a handsome, wearable hunk of tree bark that's been fitted with light-sensing circuitry, machine learning software, and sound synthesis algorithms.
The Rat Bastard Experience is led by free jazz drummer Marc Edwards (Cecil Taylor Unit), who appears here with a motley crew of free jazz “anti-fame nihilists.” NO MOR MUSIK’s punk jazz fuses the highest and lowest brows with no intermediary.
Trombonist Steve Swell brings together a new trio with pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn and electronic improviser Tom Hamilton. Drummer John Truscinski and guitarist Steve Gunn have played together over a span of years in various projects, influenced by the blues, raga, and the New York underground scene.