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.
Isolated Field Recordings Series
ISSUE is pleased to stream Cher Sylvère, a new piece from musician, writer, and philosopher Rachelle Rahmé. "I refuse ‘art as necessary labor’ – what I aimed to make was a collection that defended the unessential; the ‘creative no’ of isolation that moves across zones and mediums."
Isolated Field Recordings Series
Thursday, June 11th at 8pm EST, ISSUE is pleased to stream Things Mother Used To Make, a new piece from interdisciplinary artist and 2015 ISSUE Artist-In-Residence Dawn Kasper. Kasper across genres of performance, installation, sculpture, drawing, photography, video and sound.
Isolated Field Recordings Series
June 10th at 8pm EST, ISSUE is pleased to stream April, a new piece from interdisciplinary artist duo LoVid, part of the Isolated Field Recordings Series. In their words, "Blast this noise and flicker set for ruptured times!”
Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellowship 2020
2020 Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellow Leyya Tawil presents her second program in the NOMADIC SIGNALS series in partnership with Poetry Project, featuring the NYC debut of a new trio formed by poet Marwa Helal and musicians Saint Abdullah.
Isolated Field Recordings Series
ISSUE is pleased to present a recording with accompanying video and text from choreographer and 2015 ISSUE Artist-In-Residence Kim Brandt. The work is part of the Isolated Field Recording Series, commissioning artists to produce field recordings to be streamed over this isolated time.
Isolated Field Recordings Series
ISSUE is pleased to present Prosody as Messy Measurement Membrane, a new video piece from artist, composer, and 2012 ISSUE Artist-In-Residence Jules Gimbrone. "What is the prosody of the membrane? Instead of putting the measurement in a tool aimed at capturing truth, we listened to the membrane."
Isolated Field Recordings Series
ISSUE is pleased to present To the Planetarium, a new long-form recording from writer and musician Derek Baron. The recording is part of the Isolated Field Recording Series, commissioning artists to produce field recordings to be streamed over the course of this challenging and isolated time.
ISSUE returns to the First Unitarian Congregational Society to present an expansive program of liberated sound featuring Peter Brötzmann’s trio outfit Full Blast with Marino Pliakas & Michael Wertmüller, as well as new solo work by John Wiese and Victoria Shen.