Tune in to QUARANTINE AV organized by Peter Burr. All proceeds will be donated to Brave Space Alliance & The Hattie Carthan Community Farmer’s Market
On Saturday, June 20th, at 4 pm CST, Hamid Drake and Michael Zerang will play the sun into it’s yearly apex, which takes place at 4:43 pm CST that day.
FOLLOW THE LIGHT is a new work by composer Michael Zerang for string ensemble, featuring his instrument, Queequeg’s Coffin. This is his first full-length composition for ensemble that features the instrument.
FRED LONBERG-HOLM, MICHAEL ZERANG, AND JOE MCPHEE play a re-imagining of their recording BARROW STREET BLUES (Live): Remembering Ornette Coleman in the time of Trump
Berlin-based guitarist Nicola Hein makes his Option debut with a set of solo music + a trio set with Chicago veterans FRED LONBERG-HOLM on cello and PHILLIP SUDDERBERG on drums. (Photo by Karl F. Deigenhart)
Musician MICHAEL ZERANG performs in duo with The Androne at 7pm.
Zerang will play Queequeg’s Coffin, a droning stringed instrument that he conceptualized for Blair Thomas and Co.’s theatrical version of Moby Dick in early 2016, that was designed and fabricated by Erik Newman. The instrument has the scale length of a full sized cello, with four strings that are vibrated by a circular, wooden wheel—the same mechanism that sounds a hurdy gurdy.
Photo by Jason P. Holmes
2016 marks the 30th anniversary of Experimental Sound Studio. To celebrate 30 years of incubating, presenting and documenting innovative work in sound from around the world, ESS is throwing a blow-out gala at Constellation Chicago. The evening will feature luminaries from throughout ESS’s diverse history, including MacArthur Fellow and OPTION programmer Ken Vandermark; Chicago composer and sound artist Olivia Block; Instrument inventor and improviser Hal Rammel; and internationally acclaimed Dutch vocalist, sound poet, and composer Jaap Blonk.
Named 'Best Concert Series in a Recording Studio' by the Chicago Reader in 2014, ESS's flagship live performance series returns in Spring 2015 for a series of five concerts showcasing an international roster of improvisers, artists, and composers all working at the vanguard of the sonic arts.
ESS has assembled three of the most prolific percussionists in Chicago's jazz and improvised music scene - Jason Adasiewicz (vibes), Tim Daisy (marimba), and Michael Zerang (xylophone) - to engage in an unprecedented concatenation of mallet instruments.
This discussion and performance will investigate the influence of Malachi Ritscher—the late Chicago-based documentarian, activist, artist, musician, photographer, and supporter of experimental and improvised music whose thousands of audio recordings fill the shelves of the Creative Audio Archive at Experimental Sound Studio.
We are excited to bring back Vinosonic, the fourth annual annual afternoon of wine tasting and improvisation in the garden to benefit ESS. In a format that has become increasingly popular from year to year, a selection of wines—presented and supplied by our neighbors at In Fine Spirits—will inspire duo, trio, and quartet improvisations by local luminaries Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Jason Roebke (bass), Jason Stein (bass clarinet), and Michael Zerang (percussion). ESS' own Dan Mohr (a former professional in the wine world) will emcee the afternoon's proceedings. Music from the various collections in the Creative Audio Archive will play between sets, and the CAA will also have listening stations available at the event.
ARP SHOWCASE
FEATURING:
LEAH BEEFERMAN
LORI FELKER
CAULEEN SMITH
MICHAEL ZERANG & SPIRES THAT IN THE SUNSET RISE
Kathleen Baird: vocals, spike fiddle, acoustic guitar, mbira, slide guitar, harmonium, electric guitar, organ, xylophone, percussion, drums, banjo
Taralie Peterson: vocals, slide guitar, lap harp, bowed banjo, spike fiddle, cello, banjo, mbira, zither, electric guitar
Michael Zerang: multiple percussion, zither
