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.
With his "Bicameral Research Sound & Projection System" David Linton makes vibrational wave induced perceptual energy states manifest by deploying interconnected measures of electric sound and pulsing light in live action with hand manipulated objects. Bruce Tovsky presents a new work entitled "Methe."
Performances by virtuoso saxophonist and clarinetist Kenny Millions, who unleashes what is sometimes called “creative terrorism” in performances both comic and enigmatic, and Starlicker, a trio deeply rooted in the Chicago and international avant garde, jazz and post rock scenes.
Five artists come together to mark a unique moment in the development of digital instrumentalities and music; The T-Stick digital musical instrument, built in 2006, will take center stage in the world premieres of five new works, among the first music to be formally created for this instrument.
ISSUE’s Littoral series presents Jacues Demierre and Vincent Barras. The detailed analysis of the sonorities of the ancient and modern languages, their re-elaboration and re-composition is finally embodied in a score-text, spread out on stage in its concrete dimensions.
For her first Artist-in-Residence performance, Okkyung Lee collaborates with Tom Rainey (percussion), Liberty Ellman (guitar) and Skuli Sverrisson (bass). An independent voice in a contemporary cello performance, improvisation and composition, Lee her solid classical training as a springboard for new combinations.
Gordon Monahan's works for piano, loudspeakers, video, kinetic sculpture, and computer-controlled sound environments span genres from avant-garde concert music to multi-media installation and sound art.
Sagittarius A-Star is the new incarnation of the legendary Italian label Qbico, who specialized in limited edition, hand-painted vinyls releases, ranging from free jazz to Japanese psychedelia, free-folk, and electronic improvisation. Second Family Band, Trulofa Trio, Matt Valentine and The Aquarian Foundation perform.
In Scuttling around in the shallows, Winderen continues her investigation of the sound of shrimp, exploring how the smallest creatures of the ocean use sound for communication, orientation, and feeding. Hydrophones—originally a military development—are repurposed, inadvertently producing unexpected qualities.