Bassist and composer James Ilgenfritz (2011 AIR) returns to ISSUE, joined by Joe McPhee and AC Diamond for their first performance as a trio. This event marks a new shared context for three artists deeply invested in improvisation as a mode of inquiry.
ISSUE presents the premiere of three audiovisual compositions by Matt Mottel (2010 AIR). These works bring Mottel’s distinct artistic sensibility into dialogue with formative figures in his life and in New York’s avant-garde, tracing a lineage that is both deeply personal and central to ISSUE’s history.
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.
On Father’s Day, Sunday, June 19th - 2pm ET, The Stokes-Lucier family and ISSUE Project Room will host a memorial for the late Alvin Lucier (May 14th, 1931 - Dec. 1st, 2021), revolutionary American composer and beloved pioneer of experimental music.
June 10 8pm & June 11 3pm, ISSUE & Harvestworks are pleased to present two new works from artist, musician, and designer Selwa Abd (Bergsonist). The June 10 program features the premiere of a new video work streamed on the ISSUE website; June 11 is an outdoor performance taking place on Governors Island.
June 8 7pm & June 9 8pm, ISSUE presents two new works from artist Che Chen. The June 8 is a live outdoor performance along the banks of Whale Creek Canal—the first of a two part (inter)action with the sonic environment of Newtown Creek, former Mespat hunting/foraging grand now home to the Newtown Creek Nature Walk.
Artists-In-Residence 2022
Choreographer and composer Tatyana Tenenbaum continues her 2022 ISSUE residency with Long tones in the days of omer, a collaboration with independent dancer, choreographer, Jewish educator, and service leader Hadar Ahuvia. The performance will take place at Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Artists-In-Residence 2022
ISSUE is pleased to invite members to an artist talk and reception with 2022 ISSUE Artist-In-Residence (AIR), sound artist and musician Sydney Spann at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. The evening will serve as an epilogue and celebration of Spann’s first commissioned work as an ISSUE AIR.
ISSUE Project Room in partnership with the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and Arab.AMP are pleased to welcome 2020 Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellow Leyya Tawil to present The Seas, her fifth program in the NOMADIC SIGNALS series.
Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellowship 2021
Thursday, May 5th at 8pm ET, ISSUE presents Place of Toil, an online piece building on a method of harsh noise-based research, facilitated by artist and researcher S. Warren and 2021 Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellow Sami Hopkins.
