An evening of experimental improvisation touching on chamber music, noise, collage, and even the sounds of silence. Featuring new acoustic trio The Good-by Number, and celebrating a new release by Derek Baron (NY) and Luke Martin (MN).

It's melodic and harmonic. It's percussive and smooth. It's old as hell, and sometimes, it's just furniture. We're talking about one of the most versatile instruments out there, the piano. Hosted by composer Sharon Udoh, a pianist of 40 years, the series "A Pianist and a Partner Perhaps" highlights 3 or 4 genre-spanning musicians for whom the piano has been a long-time love. Each pianist can choose to bring one additional musician in a duo offering, if they wish (thus, "a partner perhaps"), or, they can go at it solo. Piano players, lovers, and nerds everywhere, come join us as we celebrate this magnificent instrument! At this inaugural edition, we host Erez Dessel, Paige Brown, John Bitoy, Anaïs Maviel, and Mabel Kwan

Join us at the Music in the Garden Festival Season 3 at Elastic Arts Foundation!

Music in the Garden presents a 2-day music festival with Chicago-based improvisers and creative musicians, featuring an art installation by Christina Sadovnikov inspired by the works of Moki Cherry and a feature film by Gabe Udofia.

Come enjoy a night of music and rest. This event is the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind, and feel a sense of community after the 2024 election season

Agenda

8pm Katinka Kleijn

9pm Special Effect
Sarah Clausen, Tyler Wagner

10pm Gabe Udofia Film Premiere
Gabe Udofia, Caroline Jesalva, Aaron Kaufman-Levine

10:30pm Najee Zaid-Searcy

Join us at the Music in the Garden Festival Season 3 at Elastic Arts Foundation!

Music in the Garden presents a 2-day music festival with Chicago-based improvisers and creative musicians, featuring an art installation by Christina Sadovnikov inspired by the works of Moki Cherry and a feature film by Gabe Udofia.

Come enjoy a night of music and rest. This event is the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind, and feel a sense of community after the 2024 election season.

Agenda

November 9th

8pm Counterfeit Madison

9pm Sarah Belle Reid

10pm The Mouth is the Beginning (improvising vocal ensemble)

Artists: Ben Zucker, Roberta Brenza, Paige Brown, Carol Genetti, Janna Lee, Julian Otis

The CLEAT Series has an incredibly special November edition planned with visiting artists Sarah Belle Reid + Ryan Gaston visiting Chicago and presenting new work for 16 channels. Reid and Gaston are presenting a structured improvisation for piccolo trumpet, MaxMSP, and homemade electronic instruments. The piece was developed over the course of the 2024, using the 16-channel CLEAT system. Much of the sound material explored in this work is created from very short bursts or grains of sound, which are strung or clustered together to form larger gestures. To accomplish this, they use a granular sample player built in MaxMSP, and a hardware-based pulsar synthesizer—a new instrument developed by Gaston specifically for use in this piece. The result is a dynamic, unpredictable soundscape that swings between sparse, delicate textures and frenetic swarms of noise.

Paige Alice Naylor and Haruhi Kobayashi are no strangers to the Elastic stage, but this will be the first time here presenting work as a duo. Each of them have written music for the CLEAT system in the past, often using voice as a central compositional tool. For this performance they will be remixing songs from their U.S. September tour using the CLEAT system, blending voices and electronics to create a more immersive, embodied experience.

Music at 8pm

Hugo Flores García (he/they) is a computer musician, improviser, programmer, and scientist whose creative practice spans improvised and composed music for guitars, sound objects and electronics, sound installations, bespoke digital musical instruments, and interactive art. He will perform solo. Teiku uses their Jewish-Ukrainian ancestors’ Passover songs as source material for expansive improvisation. The group weaves through an adventurous set that maintains its ritualistic origins while simultaneously venturing into the unknown.

At the second evening of the Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival, Joy Yang will be celebrating the release of her new record Live On. The album is a live concert recording dedicated to the life and memory of Joshua Bell (1996-2021). It consists of original compositions and arrangements of Jazz standards. Listeners are taken on a journey through time, space, rain and pain, emerging joyously in a dance that celebrates life. Special thanks to my trio partners, Ori and Mitch, without whom these compositions and performances would not be what you hear today.

AIRMW is proud to present the 29th Annual Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival. (Nov 1&2 at Elastic, Nov 4 at Greenline Performing Arts Center)

This critically acclaimed annual event is an essential cornerstone for highlighting and documenting the significant role that Asian Americans and their collaborators have in contributing to the city’s historic and vibrant musical landscape. Come and celebrate the 29th anniversary of the Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival (CAAJF). The CAAJF features the finest in contemporary Asian American music. Curated by Asian Improv aRts Midwest, national and internationally acclaimed Asian American artists and their collaborators weave together their collective flair to create an improvisational experience.

Kiroff/Spuzzillo Duo (Cleveland) will perform a round robin of improvised, micro-tonal songs infused with free jazz and electronics on microtonally altered Wurlitzer and fretless bass. Jacob Little Cloud Fawcett (Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe) will be joined by fellow Chicago improvisors, Keefe Jackson and Ausberto Acevedo.

Elastic Arts + The CLEAT Series continue our series of artist-led introduction workshops exploring spatial audio.

The workshops are approximately 2 hours and will begin with a demonstration and discussion of each individual artist’s approach to multichannel sound. In the second half of the workshops, participants will have an opportunity to experiment with multichannel sound techniques on the 16-channel CLEAT system installed at Elastic.

No prior experience with multichannel sound necessary! You will need to bring your own laptop to actively participate in the second half of each workshop, however you are also welcome to simply listen and observe without a laptop.

Tonight we have Norman Long here to discuss their experience writing and performing for spatial audio systems.

The workshops are FREE but space is limited. Come to one, or come to all! Following this round of four workshops we will start planning future CLEAT workshop series in Spring 2025, and Fall 2025.

Artist Guests
Oct 9: Troy Cruz
Oct 16: Dani Jean-Baptiste + Dante Ammons
Oct 23: Paige Alice Naylor
Oct 29: Norman Long

We’ve got a special Pleiades Series for October featuring some spooky and abstract sound + film! One of Chicago’s most multifaceted and prolific Hali Palombo will join us for a new set of audio explorations. Their work often explores a brand new approach to sound and video. Tonight she will be playing a live score to the 1922 silent film Häxan composed from audio recordings of wax cylinders. Preceding Hali’s performance we’ll hear a solo electronics set from Hanna Elliott aka Bankatez. This project scrapes the depths of dark textures, grooves, and timbres using samplers and modular synth. There are echoes of Hanna’s previous project HOGG, but it clearly goes to new distances.

Following the live sets we’ll have the classic Pleiades Jam for all femme/nonbinary/trans artists, but this time is special! Hali Palombo has provided a selection of silent films they’ve created for the jammers to improvise alongside. This is going to be an awesome night of sound and video, so bring your instrument! Hit up pleiades@elasticarts.org to reserve your spot in the jam. Admission is FREE for all jammers.

$15 / $10 w/ Student ID - Tickets Available at the Door

Tonight’s Improvised Music Series brings together jazz-like and electronic explorations with stunning results:

Jakob Heinemann returns to Chicago with a collaborative ensemble with Norman W. Long, and Sebastian Strinning from Switzerland.

Dave Gordon’s Plasmosonic Sextet builds on Gordon’s long-running collaborations in creative music with a special performance utilizing Elastic’s unique 16-channel CLEAT speaker system.

Elastic Arts + The CLEAT Series continue our series of artist-led introduction workshops exploring spatial audio.

The workshops are approximately 2 hours and will begin with a demonstration and discussion of each individual artist’s approach to multichannel sound. In the second half of the workshops, participants will have an opportunity to experiment with multichannel sound techniques on the 16-channel CLEAT system installed at Elastic.

No prior experience with multichannel sound necessary! You will need to bring your own laptop to actively participate in the second half of each workshop, however you are also welcome to simply listen and observe without a laptop.

Tonight we have Elastic Arts curator Paige Alice Naylor here to discuss their experience writing and performing for spatial audio systems.

The workshops are FREE but space is limited. Come to one, or come to all! Following this round of four workshops we will start planning future CLEAT workshop series in Spring 2025, and Fall 2025.

Artist Guests
Oct 9: Troy Cruz
Oct 16: Dani Jean-Baptiste + Dante Ammons
Oct 23: Paige Alice Naylor
Oct 29: Norman Long

We have a very busy month for Elastro including this incredibly special event! We’re honored to host Portuguese artist Rafael Toral performing a solo performance in a quad speaker arrangement! Elastro curator Daniel Wyche will begin the evening with an ensemble set — collaborators TBA.

Rafael's new record Spectral Evolution, marks a significant return to the electric guitar after 15 years in his “Space Program,” performing only with self-built electronic modules. Here, the unique compositional fronts of guitar and electronics crush together in a powerful new synthesis, as Toral weaves twelve distinct episodes into a flowing whole. Released on Jim O'Rourke's reactivated Moikai, “Spectral Evolution imbues the ambiance of jazz harmony-inspired interplay with dense electronic mass in a new expanding universe."

Join us! Music at 8pm.

Local Universe presents the New Now Showcase! We’re excited to be hosting this series that highlights up and coming local artists of diverse genre. Tonight we have Buddhist noise poetry from Emotional Maturity, music concrete performance from 21 Million Kites (Ensemble), and the long running Black Diamond featuring Artie Black and Elastic’s own Hunter Diamond. We’ll start the music shortly after 7pm.

We’re thrilled to welcome cellist Jamie Kempkers as he celebrates his new album Amazing Music of Jamie Kempkers where he joins creative forces with bassist Tatsu. The two have a long running history of collaborations through various improvisational outlets including the great MIYUMI Project. Tonight we’ll hear the two stripped down to their core string instruments, amplified. Music at 8:30pm!

$15 / $10 w/ Student ID - Tickets Available at the Door

Two intense solo acts full of cascading distortion take the stage for this IMS: Ben Zucker performs music vibraphone and feedback from their new album Alike Untils, and NYC-based guitarist, writer, and “punk hero” Erica Dawn Lyle stops through Chicago to melt minds.

Elastic Arts + The CLEAT Series continue our series of artist-led introduction workshops exploring spatial audio.

The workshops are approximately 2 hours and will begin with a demonstration and discussion of each individual artist’s approach to multichannel sound. In the second half of the workshops, participants will have an opportunity to experiment with multichannel sound techniques on the 16-channel CLEAT system installed at Elastic.

No prior experience with multichannel sound necessary! You will need to bring your own laptop to actively participate in the second half of each workshop, however you are also welcome to simply listen and observe without a laptop.

Tonight we have Dani Jean-Baptiste and Dante Ammons describing their process in writing/performing an expansive dance / spatial audio piece they wrote for the series in 2024.

The workshops are FREE but space is limited. Come to one, or come to all! Following this round of four workshops we will start planning future CLEAT workshop series in Spring 2025, and Fall 2025.

Artist Guests
Oct 9: Troy Cruz
Oct 16: Dani Jean-Baptiste + Dante Ammons
Oct 23: Paige Alice Naylor
Oct 29: Norman Long

Elastro A/V presents a 2-day festival of audio and video installations and performances from a wide range of local audiovisual Chicago artists! Tonight is curated by video artists Clark Woods, Taylor Dye, and Gordon Fung. These three will be inviting audio artists to join the program for three sets.

Ft. Melon Sprout, Brandon McAlinden, Kim Nucci, Haruhi Kobayashi, Juan Flores, Deirdre Fromberg, Jordan Paine, Slugscape

Elastro A/V presents a 2-day festival of audio and video installations and performances from a wide range of local audiovisual Chicago artists! Tonight is curated by video artist Galina Shevchenko who has invited fellow video artist Liviu Pasare to present work as well.

The evening will being with Pasare on video alongside an audio ensemble of Oui Ennui, Scott Myers, Jordan Knecht, and Emma Hospelhorn.

The second set will have Shevchenko on video with the trio of Mai Sugimoto, Jim Baker, and Chris Corsano.

Shake Shook Shaken is a theater/movement workshop series produced by Julie Meckler. The series is designed for people to gently bring body awareness, allowing participants to open up, explore outside of their comfort zone, bond with each other, create and show.By playing with these concepts using our bodies, voices, words, and each other, we will explore our own awareness and sensitivity as artists and people. 

Shake Shook Shaken is a dream of what a safe space could allow. A vision of a place for everybody to gather, look at each other, play and create in a non judgmental, trauma-informed way. It’s an invitation, a journey within and out, a surprise. Each workshop is unique. This month we’ll have Lindsey Weinberg and Julie leading on the topic of COUNTERBALANCE!

No prior dance or acting experience is necessary, just willingness to move and exhale. This workshop series is for anyone and everyone.

It’s a big month for CLEAT with weekly workshops and a wonderful series show featuring three performances that integrate video and multichannel audio. We’ll have series debuts from Moth Vegas, WYRD MODULO, and the return of series curator Sam Clapp’s project Bliss Point!

NYC Trombonist leads quartet of local horn players in addition to a new trio led by drummer Bill Harris.

8:30 pm

Bill Harris - drum set
Tyler Wagner - bass
Jim Baker - piano / synthesizer

9:30 pm

Joe Fiedler - trombone
Jeb Bishop - trombone
Josh Berman - cornet
Mai Sugimoto - saxophone

Elastic Arts + The CLEAT Series continue our series of artist-led introduction workshops exploring spatial audio.

The workshops are approximately 2 hours and will begin with a demonstration and discussion of each individual artist’s approach to multichannel sound. In the second half of the workshops, participants will have an opportunity to experiment with multichannel sound techniques on the 16-channel CLEAT system installed at Elastic.

No prior experience with multichannel sound necessary! You will need to bring your own laptop to actively participate in the second half of each workshop, however you are also welcome to simply listen and observe without a laptop.

Tonight we have Troy Cruz discussing his work in spatial audio

The workshops are FREE but space is limited. Come to one, or come to all! Following this round of four workshops we will start planning future CLEAT workshop series in Spring 2025, and Fall 2025.

Artist Guests
Oct 9: Troy Cruz
Oct 16: Dani Jean-Baptiste + Dante Ammons
Oct 23: Paige Alice Naylor
Oct 29: Norman Long

Meditations: Reflections on John Coltrane

Curated by Angelo Hart, piano

with

Greg Artry, drums
Sarah Clausen, saxophone/bass clarinet
Hunter Diamond,  electronics/sax
Marion Mallard,  bass

More info TBA

Due to unforseen circumstances, the 5PM program is being postponed to a later date.

Stay tuned to @elasticarts and @africlassicalfutures for updates on this event!

Dark Matter Residents Leah Lara and Zahra Baker guide us through history, fantasy and beyond for Day 5 of AFW9!

12:00PM - 1:30 PM - All-Ages Puppet Workshop + Performance w/ Leah Lara

Come view a miniature lighthouse seascape enclosed in the snow globe of cyberspace. The scenic screensaver comes to life as a mouse interacts with the webpage. Live theremin voices the sounds of the mystical dark shores where mermaids are known to linger.

After the show, stay for a fun, creative tunnel book workshop.

2:00 PM - 3:30 PM - Zahra Baker’s “This Black Is Me: Sacred Encounters with Callie House”

Through communal singing, poetry, storytelling and archival recordings, this invocation will connect ritual, historical research and dreamtime imaginings to honor the life of Callie House who was the first known person to fight for reparations post slavery in America.

Prepare be moved, motivated, and renewed in spirit!

Feel free to attend all or part of either/both performance(s)

$20 / $15 w/ Student ID - Tickets Available at the Door

AfroFuturist Weekend meets Freedom From and Freedom To for Day 4 of AFW9!

Join us for an evening of spontaneous creativity, genre-bending music and improvisation!

Tonight’s roster features an opening set by returning trip-hop alt-synth duo Gilt Drip, followed by a set by none other than vocalist/multi-nstrumentalist and 2024 Dark Matter Resident Amyna Love.

We close the evening with a special AFW9 installment of one of Elastic Arts’ most popular events, Cristal Sabbagh's interdisciplinary improvisational performance series "Freedom From and Freedom To"!

Be part of this unpredictable and magical experience where anything can happen!

$15 / $10 w/ Student ID - Tickets Available at the Door or Online

AfroFuturist Weekend meets Flex Obscura Series for Day 3 of AFW9!

Flex Obscura at AfroFuturist Weekend brings a micro film festival with Official Selections representing a range of films, from Chicago-based to international projects, screened in conversation with Terence Nance!

We'll have a retro/futurespective featuring a curated selection of his short films and a real-time, virtual conversation with the filmmaker himself. The evening also includes industry networking, filmmaker awards, and a performance by Nikki Patín with special guest Angel Bat Dawid.

The evening culminates with the Club Obscura Afterparty featuring CTRLZORA and DJ King GNS.

$15 / $10 w/ Student ID - Tickets Available at the Door or Online

$10 After Party Only + Weekend Passes Available!

The Improvised Music Series meets AfroFuturist Weekend for Day 2 of AFW9!

This second night of the AfroFuturist Weekend Festival marks our first set of performances at Elastic Arts for the week, and our annual collaboration with the Improvised Music Series.

We’ll begin the evening with a performance by one of our favorite multidisciplinary experimental ensembles, Suspended Culture Collective, including 2024 Dark Matter Resident sun Lynn Hunter and 2023 Dark Matter Alum Carissa Pinckney.

They’ll be followed by a performance from a duo of boundary-breaking instrumentalists: Luc Mosley and Zekkereya El-Magharbel.

Don’t miss this evening of out-of-bounds art and sound!

*note: olula negre will not be performing for this event

$15 / $10 w/ Student ID - Tickets Available at the Door or Online