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.
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.
Unsound Festival NY 2014
“Damaged Particulates (undersong edition)” is a new exploration of sub bass created by one the most prolific sound artists and electronic musicians in New York today, Ben Vida. Low frequencies will be transmitted directly to your body through seat-backs equipped with SubPac, a high-fidelity tactile audio system.
An afternoon percussion concert is headlined by Sean Meehan & Ben Manely, veterans of the NY scene since the 80s, who improvise duo. Warsaw-based Hubert Zemler plays solo, crossing new music, world music and improvisation. Norway’s Håkon Stene performs works by Lars Petter Hagen and Michael Pisaro.
Unsound Festival NY 2014
A special presentation of Demdike Stare’s audio-visual work “Concealed” is performed the Sinfonietta Cracovia players. Phill Niblock presents and solo work as well as "Unipolar Dance" for two violins. Stara Rzeka, a key player in Poland’s experimental scene offers "magical brutalism", blurring black metal and ambient.
UNSOUND OPENING NIGHT: Oren Ambarchi presents a live version of “Knots” featuring percussionist Joe Talia and violist James Rushford leading the Sinfonietta Cracovia players. Spanish computer-music outfit EVOL premiere a new reinterpretation of conceptual artist and composer Hanne Darboven's legendary piece "Opus 17a".
The String Orchestra of Brooklyn performs the World Premiere of four new works by young composers at the forefront of composition and improvisation: Eli Keszler, Catherine Lamb, Zach Layton, and Doron Sadja. Now in its third edition, this year's "String Theories" is presented in collaboration with Roulette.