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.
Van Alen Institute’s Spring 2014 Events launch at ISSUE with a fast-paced medley of music, poetry, personal reflections, conversations, and performances by designers, artists, musicians, writers, social scientists, and others exploring the meaning of well-being, and the effects of the city on our minds and bodies.
Berlin-based Danish sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard presents ISFALD, a recent immersive solo soundwork. The piece features the sounds of ice, recorded with underwater microphones at the Ilulissat icefjord and with vibration sensors at the melting glaciers of Kangerlussuaq, Greenland in June 2013.
Yarn/Wire/Currents continues with premieres of newly commissioned works for piano/percussion quartet Yarn/Wire by Christopher Trapani and Pete Swanson. Trapani explores the concept of stopping time, Swanson, in his second collaboration with the ensemble, forays into the intersection of electronic and acoustic sound.
An evening of anecdotes and admiration celebrates the life and work of Muriel Spark in anticipation of a forthcoming collection of her essays and 8 republished novels (New Directions). With authors and editors Barbara Epler, Maud Newton, Sadie Stein, Emily Stokes and Thessaly LaForce with moderator Michael Barron.
Ultima closes with attention turned to composer Arne Nordheim. Acclaimed Nordic group Serena-Maneesh & vocal ensemble perform Somnambulism, a tribute to Nordheim's musical spirit. His "Flashing" is performed by outstanding accordionist Frode Haltli, alongside works by Magnar Åm, Aldo Clementi, and Hans Abrahamsen.
Ultima Festival New York 2014
An afternoon concert pairs solo piano performances by the young Finnish musician Antti Tolvi and acclaimed composer/performer Lubomyr Melnyk, architect of the Continuous Music method. Both venture far outside the classical tradition, sharing an emphasis on the instrument's capacity for extended harmony and overtone.
Ultima Festival New York 2014
Radical Danish artist Henning Christiansen’s performance work "Requiem of Art (NYC) Fluxorum Organum" receives its first NY presentation, in a new interpretation developed by Anton Lukoszevieze, who leads the superb Ne(x)tworks ensemble. The program includes works by Arne Nordheim, Shelley Burgon and Kristin Norderval.
Berlin-based Danish sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard presents Faust and other works by the pioneering electronic musician Else Marie Pade (not present). Acclaimed piano/percussion quartet Yarn/WIre perform works by composers Øyvind Torvund, Simon Steen-Andersen and Anna Thorvaldsdottir/Sigurdur Gudjonsson.