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.
Leyya Tawil (ISSUE Project Room’s 2020 Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellow) presents “Mirages/ FRKTL & Tarkamt,” her fourth program in the NOMADIC SIGNALS series. Mirages is a program of sonic and visual illusory spaces composed and performed by FRKTL, British-Egyptian artist Sarah Badr, and Tarkamt.
ISSUE & Weeksville Heritage Center are pleased to present acclaimed musical collective Harriet Tubman, formed by Brandon Ross, Melvin Gibbs & JT Lewis at Weeksville’s historic site in Crown Heights, BK. The performance also features a first time collaboration between JJJJJerome Ellis & Holland Andrews.
ISSUE is pleased to stream a new piece by the legendary trio of Keiji Haino, Jim O’Rourke & Oren Ambarchi. This online presentation is a streamed iteration of an in-person installation of the recording, taking place at ISSUE’s 2021 Fall Opening concert on September 9th, 2021.
ISSUE is thrilled to open its 2021 Fall season and welcome audiences for the first in-person program after nearly eighteen months. Returning to the First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn Heights, ISSUE presents an expansive gathering of alumni from cross the organization’s history.
Distant Pairs Series
ISSUE and AvanTokyo present the debut collaboration of Berlin-based composer & musician Rashad Becker and Japanese sound artist Fuji||||||||||ta. “not to be or not not to be” is their words it is “a scrapbook of sensitivities in scarcity of acumen (a tiny cycle of 8 visual scores for supervised soliloquy)."
Distant Pairs Series
ISSUE is pleased to stream the debut collaboration of London-based multidisciplinary artist, producer, composer, and singer/songwriter Louis Carnell (Visionist) and South Korean cellist, composer, and improviser Okkyung Lee.
Distant Pairs Series
Carmen Baliero & Cecilia Lopez met around 1999 when, as a 16-year-old conservatory dropout, Lopez started taking composition classes with Baliero. Both born in Buenos Aires, the pair have an expansive collaborative history that spans decades. ISSUE is pleased to present a new work AEROSILLA (el turismo posible)
Distant Pairs Series
ISSUE & Harvestworks are pleased to present the debut collaboration between Viola Yip & Laetitia Sonami. Communicating between Berlin and Oakland, Yip and Sonami—both who have long standing approaches to instrument building—explore collaboration through the creation of a virtual electronic instrument.