Formed in NYC in 1993, the improvising collective No-Neck Blues Band (NNCK) favors anonymity, autonomy, and obfuscation. Alongside founding member Keith Connolly (2016 AIR), they return to open ISSUE’s Fall season at First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn.
ISSUE presents the first commission from Eden Girma (2026 AIR). Part dreamscape and part summoning circle, an intimate diasporic familial archive is pieced together through the eyes of a five-year-old child.
In partnership with Franklin Furnace as part of their 50th anniversary commemoration and November release of "Back to the Present: 50 Years of Free Expression with Franklin Furnace" ISSUE presents an evening of performance and conversation.
Incorporating elements of noise, trance and minimalism, Sergei Tcherepnin (2012 AIR) presents new work for Serge Modular synthesizer.
Robert Ashley's "Vidas Perfectas"
The first performance of Robert Ashley’s Vidas Perfectas, the Spanish-language version of the ground-breaking opera Perfect Lives (1983) directed by Alex Waterman, premieres at the Irondale Theater in Brooklyn. Starring Ned Sublette with Elio Villafranca and music produced by Peter Gordon.
Okkyung Lee has developed her own voice in a contemporary cello performance, improvisation and composition. Using her solid classical training as a springboard, she incorporates jazz, sounds, Korean traditional and pop music, and noise with extended techniques to create her unique blend of music.
Darmstadt: Essential Repertoire closes with the seventh annual performance of Terry Riley's minimalist classic, and instigator of a musical movement, "In C." The piece will be performed in true Darmstadt fashion, amplified and backed by former Swans drummer and La Monte Young collaborator Jonathan Kane.
Karlheinz Stockhausen's last piece of electronic music, Cosmic Pulses, will have its NY premiere as part of the fourth annual Darmstadt: Essential Repertoire Festival. With an 8-channel sound system surrounding the audience, Cosmic Pulses is a behemoth, more sonic roller coaster than traditional concert piece.
Ensemble Sospeso plays Morton Feldman’s three-hour duet for flute and keyboards, For Christian Wolff. An “extended waking dream,” it is generally regarded as the most austere of Feldman’s late works, fantastically quiet, full of pitches and yet somehow never quite emerging from a perpetual state of almost-being.
This two-night program feature a huge lineup of some of Sweden’s most exciting experimental musicians. Performances will include collaborations between U.S. and Swedish artists. This night features The Skull Defekts, Mats Gustafsson, Ikue Mori + Ida Lunden, CM von Hausswolff, and Mats Lindström + Anna Koch.
This two-night program feature a huge lineup of some of Sweden’s most exciting experimental musicians. Performances will include collaborations between U.S. and Swedish artists. The first night features The Magic State, Sewer Election, Hanna Hartmann, Altar of Flies, Kathy Hinde + Daniel Skoglund, and Leif Elggren.
