This exhibition presents the Mexican artist Leslie García’s intervention in El Saturn Collection—an archive of around 600 tapes and cassettes by the jazz musician Sun Ra—through synthesizers, electronic processing and artificial intelligence.
As part of its ongoing Florasonic series, ESS presents The Southwest Northeast Back and Forth Bows, a new work by Laura Ortman, spatialized by Kari Watson.
Master Percussionist Vincent Davis brings his Percussion Plus band to OPTION, featuring Edward Wilkerson on saxophones, Jim Baker on piano, Micah Collier on bass, and Vincent Davis on drums and percussion.
Lula Asplund performs a solo set in her first appearance on the OPTION stage.
DoYeon Kim performs "Silk Echoes Beneath the Light," an improvisational work that explores the intricate resonance of the 12-string gayageum, weaving through light and space.
In this concert Bill MacKay and Cooper Crain visit where BCMC has been as a band and explores where they’re going, featuring work that is both composed and improvisational.
Joe Westerlund performs electroacoustic percussion pieces from past and forthcoming records with improvisations.
Japanese-American multi-instrumentalist and composer Patrick Shiroishi performs on the OPTION stage for the first time.
Chia Amisola performs an experimental ambient atmosphere in PAGASA, which uses historical & real-time climate data provide the basis of sound, image, & samples in a simulation of the tropics, going from its mythological formations to future geographies.
THIS PERFORMANCE HAS BEEN POSTPONED.
The _____ Experiment (pronounced The “Blank” Experiment) is a flexible instrumentation new music ensemble; this concert showcases works for oboe (Ava Wirth) and saxophones (Andrew Hosler).
The OPTION 2025 season kicks off with Potliquor, a new experimental duo with pianist Sharon Udoh and turnablist Allen Moore.
Join us for an evening of improvised sound-making as we welcome Oakland-based pianist, composer, and electronics musician Chris Brown to ESS for a special duet concert with Chicago percussionist Tim Daisy.
ESS and Teenage Engineering present a TP-7 and pocket operator demo workshop featuring Tobias (of T.E.) and multidisciplinary artist Heavee.
ESS hosts Stretchmetal for an afternoon of ambient sets, experimental sound, and free NA beer from Visitor.
A night of music with the director-musician duo Jim Jarmusch and Jozef van Wissem
To celebrate what would have been Mars’ 70th birthday on May 29, and to launch the Mars Williams Archive now being hosted at Experimental Sound Studio, we’re glad to invite you to the culminating event of the weekend: This afternoon we invite the general public to come and check out Mars Williams’ extensive collection of recordings in every imaginable format, dating back to the mid-70’s.
To celebrate what would have been Mars’ 70th birthday, and to launch the Mars Williams Archive now hosted at ESS, we’re glad to invite you to the third in a series of events: Mars Williams Toy Story featuring a new composition by Lia Kohl.
New Music Chicago Presents: Sarah Plum New Music for Solo Violin and Viola
Featuring works by Tonia Ko, Jeffrey Mumford, Osnat Netzer, Sidney Corbett, and Kyong Mee Choi
Join ESS in the Lincoln Park Conservatory Fern Room for the opening of The Southwest Northeast Back and Forth Bows, a new work by Laura Ortman
In a one-time performance, Chicago-based composer and sound artist Lia Kohl presents the world premiere of her latest composition "Music for Union Station," a chamber work responding to the Great Hall of Chicago's central train station.
ESS presents a special pop-up program, Sonografias |:| Urgent Latin American Sound Art, by Brazilian artist Eric Barbosa. Sonografias integrates sound performance, collaborations, creative processes, and a micro-exhibition composed of works, sound sculptures, video art, and installation creations.
“Scratching” is an immersive multichannel soundscape created and performed by cellist and noise/performance artist Katinka Kleijn at the Chicago Athletic Association in their Tank, a former swimming pool at the club.
Veronica Anne Salinas guides a workshop in Deep Listening and sonic improvisation as a social experience.
Curated by flutist Sasha Ishov, Echoes and Influences is an evening of solos and duos featuring music by Joji Yuasa, alongside works by Isang Yun and Jo Kondō — figures in the postwar Japanese and Korean avant-garde whose works reflect distinct yet interwoven aesthetic trajectories.
Laura Ortman and Kari Watson discuss their collaboration to create a piece for ESS's Florasonic series at Lincoln Park Conservatory.
In the first of three spring Patchbent sessions, Lorelei d'Andriole teaches the basics of bringing audio from VCV Rack to TouchDesigner to explore the potential of audio reactive visuals.
Join us on Saturday, March 29, 2025 as the Creative Audio Archive collaborates with Asian Improv Arts Midwest to present a free, public Listening Party and Screening of rarely seen archival footage documenting a live performance by the Fred Anderson Trio in Osaka in 1999. The screening will be followed by a live discussion with Aoki.
Chicago Creative Machines presents Bryan Pardo’s Interactive Audio Lab, where they invent new tools to find, label, separate, modify, and generate sound. Pardo will discuss several projects illustrative of the work in the lab.
Chicago Creative Machines presents Caitlyn Min-ji Au in a talk about indeterminacy and her work-in-progress with roombas.
Chicago Creative Machines presents Ted Moore in a free FluCoMa workshop!
This workshop introduces participants to FluCoMa, a toolkit for making music with machine listening and machine learning within Max, SuperCollider, and Pure Data.
This Saturday, March 1st at Parachute HiFi join ESS for a Creative Audio Archive DJ set by CAA Archives Manager James Wetzel. Swing by from 7-11 PM for great food, drinks, and sounds!
Join us for an evening with the Patchbent community at Dark Matter Coffee’s Star Lounge. This meetup is an open time to hang out and see what others have been working on.
Intro to Microsound is a 4-session course introducing students to the Gen~ programming environment inside of MaxMSP.
Chicago Creative Machines presents human-robot interaction designer and researcher Patricia Alves-Oliveira.
This workshop address how robots can be used for unconventional tasks, such as being promotors of human creativity and artistic expression.
ESS launches a series of Virtual Happy “Hours” in 2025. These are curated 30ish-minute live Zoom events featuring special artist content, Creative Audio Archive selections, and a lively chat—no cameras required!
