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.
Distant Pairs Series
Carmen Baliero & Cecilia Lopez met around 1999 when, as a 16-year-old conservatory dropout, Lopez started taking composition classes with Baliero. Both born in Buenos Aires, the pair have an expansive collaborative history that spans decades. ISSUE is pleased to present a new work AEROSILLA (el turismo posible)
Distant Pairs Series
ISSUE & Harvestworks are pleased to present the debut collaboration between Viola Yip & Laetitia Sonami. Communicating between Berlin and Oakland, Yip and Sonami—both who have long standing approaches to instrument building—explore collaboration through the creation of a virtual electronic instrument.
ISSUE is pleased to stream the debut collaboration between Diné composer, performer & installation artist Raven Chacon and New Zealand Maori composer, improvisor & anthropologist Rob Thorne. Both have extensive histories using various high-pitched Indingenous wind instruments from their respective territories.
Distant Pairs Series
Having collaborated only once before, Sofia Jernberg & Tomeka Reid embark from two respectively vast performative histories of composed and improvised music—from Jernberg’s standing collaborations with Fire! Orchestra, to Reid’s shortlist of collaborators that include Anthony Braxton & George Lewis.
ISSUE is pleased to host an online event for ISSUE Members with French composer Pascale Criton, violinist Silvia Tarozzi, and cellist Deborah Walker, in conversation around the Sounding Limits series of compositions.
Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellowship 2021
2021 Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellow Sami Hopkins presents her second program in Propositions from the deadWIP, featuring composer and Argentinian pianist Leo Genovese in collaboration with bassist John Lockwood and percussionist Nat Mugavero.
Artists-In-Residence 2021
Composer, poet & performer JJJJJerome Ellis presents Impediment is Information, his second work as a 2021 ISSUE Artist-In-Residence. In his second presentation, Impediment is Information, JJJJJerome Ellis continues to use music, poetry, and video to contemplate intersections between blackness and disability.
Artists-In-Residence 2021
Sound/visual artist, improviser, and performer Austin Sley Julian presents Helio-Grave, his second commissioned work as an ISSUE Artist-In-Residence. This piece is performed as a quartet with sound artist/engineer Riley, vocalist/saxophonist Carolyn Hietter, and improviser/composer Gabby Fluke-Mogul.