In this September 2017 conversation with Ken Vandermark, Ballake Sissoko & Nicole Mitchell discuss early experiences with music, improvising across musical traditions, and working in different languages.
Read More
News
Interviews, audio, press releases and more content about ESS and the artists we work with.
In this June 2017 conversation with Seth Kim-Cohen, Lou Mallozzi improvises his way through an intertwined performance and interview.
Read More
Most musicians make music for other people. Some make music for themselves. One University of Chicago Library staff member recently faced the unique challenge of making music for plants.
Read More
Before she leaves, CHA MING is offering a selection of salt prints and digital prints for sale to U.S. audiences, created by artist Franco Anzelmo and featuring CHA MING as the model.
Read More
In celebration of "back to school" season, we're inviting educators and students to get involved in our programming!
Read More
In this September 2021 conversation with Andrew Clinkman, Jessica Ackerley talks about playing clean electric guitar, the role of enjoyment in playing music and collaborating with Shane Parish in Hawai'i.
Read More
We are accepting donations to ensure the energy, legacy, and power of jaimie branch live on. Her family and close friends are establishing the right organization or project. Details about this fund, as well as her memorial celebrations will be shared as they become available.
Read More
In this August 2020 conversation with Ken Vandermark, Magda Mayas talks about her early musical influences from her family and seeing Cecil Taylor, shares her experience being a student of Misha Mengelberg, and discusses her techniques working with a prepared piano.
Read More
Most musicians make music for other people. Some make music for themselves. One University of Chicago Library staff member recently faced the unique challenge of making music for plants.
Read More
This week's Option Talks podcast episode features pianist and composer Mabel Kwan. In this conversation from 2019, Mabel talks with Tim Daisy about who and what influences her music, and how she works at the intersection of multiple musical genres.
Read More
In this October 2015 conversation with Ken Vandermark, Terrie Ex and Andy Moor discuss the several social, political and creative scenes in Amsterdam that shaped them, the longevity of The EX, and shines light on the bureaucracy of international artists to be in the United States to share their music.
Read More
Even in a city full of talented artists with their fingers in a half dozen projects at once, Marvin Tate stands out as a Renaissance man. The west-side native is extraordinarily industrious as a singer-songwriter, poet, visual artist, playwright, and activist, with a richly diverse body of work, and he’s been a local legend for decades. This month, Tate seems to have kicked his activity into an even higher gear!
Read More