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This Thursday’s Improvised Music Series will have a solo set from percussionist Alejandro Salazar, a solo set from Sidaka with his project Resurgence of the Bliss, and a performance from the Best Day Ever Duo
March’s Elastro Series bring artists Henna Chou and Alison Wilder in from Texas, then solo sets from Liv Mershon (of nunn + Who is the Witness?) and Mallory Qiu on the 16 channel CLEAT System. Qiu presents Venus, Moon, and Whispers on the Road East, a poetic journey through live synth and piano improvisations, spoken word readings, accompanied by mesmerizing video projections. The piece invites audience to explore themes of love, loss, and liberations, creating a spellbinding fusion of sight and sound that”Qiu presents Venus, Moon, and Whispers on the Road East, a poetic journey through live synth and piano improvisations, spoken word readings, accompanied by mesmerizing video projections. The piece invites audience to explore themes of love, loss, and liberations, creating a spellbinding fusion of sight and sound that transcends physical boundaries. In this solo performance, Mershon combines her current explorations into noise with the song-writing of her recent past and home videos from her youth. Inspired by the psychedelic experience of aging, Mershon combines these nostalgic and emergent practices in an attempt to witness her own changing but static self. More info TBA
At our second event of March with our friends at Asian Improv aRts Midwest the organization is presenting two duo sets. First up will be an acoustic duet from longtime friends and collaborators Tatsu Aoki and Jim Baker. These two have been stalwarts of the Chicago creative music community for decades through numerous ensembles, solo work, and organizing. Headlining the evening will be Nireus, an electronic new music duo including violinist Clara Takarabe and composer / synthesist / multi-instrumentalist H. Anton Riehl. Their broad musical style is influenced by their shared history in classical music, with deep ties to electronic and experimental music. You can hear influences from Palestrina to Shostakovich, Penderecki to Tan Dun, or the music of the medieval Andalusia running through their cinematic expressions. It’ll be a great night. Join us! Music at 8:30pm
At this week’s Improvised Music Series we welcome Lao Dan in from Hangzhou, China to perform two sets with a Chicago-based quartet. The band will feature Mabel Kwan on piano, Joshua Abrams on bass, and Michael Zerang on drums. Instead of pursuing the conventional career path as a professional conservatory flutist inside the “system”, after leaving SYCM, Lao Dan became an independent musician. With his unique understanding of the woodwind instruments through two decades of playing, Lao Dan sticks to his own vision and approach to the Chinese flute and its sounds. We can’t wait to hear two sets from this quartet! Music at 8:30pm
Queer Dance Freakout is an interactive choose-your-own-adventure-spectacle, inspired by the Neo-Futurists Infinite Wrench. Our company is composed of queer, trans, and/or nonbinary artists & storytellers, who perform an array of devised performance art pieces. We aim to have audiences booty shaking, grooving, and connecting with the larger queer community.
Each of our original pieces are around 4 minutes in length, and the audience queues the order of these pieces from our “playlist” by verbally calling out the next piece they want to see. Queer Dance Freakout is ever changing; every piece and performance the company writes and choreographs is created from our own life experiences! No Freakout performance is the same as we devise new work every season (and repeat some of
Elastic Arts, in partnership with Funkadesi and Strategic Inclusion Consulting, through a generous #HealingIllinois grant, is hosting this FREE experiential 3-hour workshop in Spring 2024. Led by Dr. Rahul Sharma & The Rhythm Ambassadors of Funkadesi, it combines multicultural drumming, self-reflection, & facilitated dialogue. The goals are to deepen self-awareness on racism’s impact, experience the joy of inclusion, and commit to collective action. No musical talented required. Registration is open!
Participants in this workshop and/or the Storytelling & Spoken Word workshop (April 13) will have FREE admission to a Celebratory Concert & Drum Circle on May 11, featuring Funkadesi & more. Also, stay tuned for a pop-up community celebration in late May/ mid-June!
FFFT returns for its first iteration of sound and movement collaborations for 2024! Freedom From and Freedom To is an exploration and celebration of artistic circumstance. Movement and sound improvisors from all around Chicago gather in front of a live audience, where they are grouped by chance. Each group performs an improvised set. We fuse diverse artistic backgrounds and practices to create unique and fleeting worlds. There will be a headlining set from Kiku Hibino + Keisha Janae.
EARLY SHOW at 3PM + LATE SHOW at 7PM
Queer Dance Freakout is an interactive choose-your-own-adventure-spectacle, inspired by the Neo-Futurists Infinite Wrench. Our company is composed of queer, trans, and/or nonbinary artists & storytellers, who perform an array of devised performance art pieces. We aim to have audiences booty shaking, grooving, and connecting with the larger queer community.
Each of our original pieces are around 4 minutes in length, and the audience queues the order of these pieces from our “playlist” by verbally calling out the next piece they want to see. Queer Dance Freakout is ever changing; every piece and performance the company writes and choreographs is created from our own life experiences! No Freakout performance is the same as we devise new work every season (and repeat some of our favorites). We can't wait to freakout with you!
The Improvised Music Series presents a special guest trio, featuring a cross-generational meeting of Norway’s most powerful voices in free improvisation!
2 sets, starting at 8:30PM
$15/$10 w/ Student ID - Tickets Available at the Door
April’s CLEAT Series will present three sets from artists all close to the Elastic community. Dark Matter 2023 resident Carissa Lee will offer up their first performance on the CLEAT system where we’ll hear her use of field recordings, writing, Black southern culture (that includes medical histories, stories, music etc.) and voice to materialize emotions of grief, and isolation. Old friends and collaborators Regina Martinez and AJ McClenon work together on the CLEAT to present voice recordings, electronics, and abstract tape music textures. The artists parse through voice memos sent over the past five years. "How can the sonics of a friendship be pieced together through disembodied communication that's full of laughter, full of sighs and what we ate today? How have we held space for each other in between the pauses, in between the aparts while listening to the same weather?” Christophe Preissing will present Deconstructivism I: Plume, his first foray into combining cut up texts, phonemic deconstruction, and vocal tics, materials often left on the cutting room floor with recordings made inside a piano and detritus from various other projects. The CLEAT Series focuses on work composed for the 16-channel speaker system in our space, allowing audiences to experience different approaches to spatial audio.