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.
“Original Innocence” is a rock opera conceived by Dave Nuss and Eric Sanders. A traveling troupe of performers from a new religious sect and dramatically depict their theology in a tent-meeting style ‘passion play’ about the creation of the world.
Composer, improviser, and multi-instrumentalist Ben Vida premieres Piece for Difference Tones (interrupted) & (computer controlled) Analog Sound Objects. The work emphasizes the intersections between analog and digital sound synthesis systems, which produce what Vida calls “non-representational sound objects."
Elliott Sharp’s 60th birthday celebration continues with a collection of his long-time friends and collaborators performing his music at ISSUE’s space at the Old American Can Factory. Among Sharp’s works to be performed are Flexagons (Orchestra Carbon), Octal (Elliott Sharp solo) and Oligosono (Jenny Lin).
Jo Andres and Steve Buscemi host ISSUE's first benefit event at our future home — the beautiful McKim, Mead, and White jewel box theater at 110 Livingston in Downtown Brooklyn — celebrating the 60th birthday of prolific composer and guitar virtuoso Elliott Sharp.
Pianist, Gianni Lenoci, and soprano-saxophonist, Gianni Mimmo, create an improvised performance with decades of experimental, solo and ensemble-based performances under their respective belts. New York-based composer, pianist and educator, Ramin Arjomand, presents new work.
Ensemble Pamplemousse presents "Absurd Limitations," the emergent product of reducing, restricting, narrowing, squelching, slicing, and otherwise removing all unnecessary fodder. Contemporary chamber quartet, Yarn/Wire, perform "alphabeta" by Eric Wubbels and "Wolf" by Kate Soper.
The Collected presents new works for celebrated electric guitar quartet Dither, including premiers by Brent Miller, Adam Fong and Denise Gilson, and music by Lisa R. Coons from Dither's 2010 album. Each piece focuses on idiomatic elements of the quartet's sound palette from both classical and vernacular repertoires.
Seriously Ecstatic: Joshua White at the Fillmore East, 1968-70 is an account of the Joshua Light Show’s legendary two years at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East. Performing with The Doors, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and many others, the Joshua Light Show created extravagant visual experienes to accompany the music.