Paul Hertz presents new visual, audio, and intermedia works created with his new free, libre open source software library for Processing, PixelAudio.

This ensemble performance in Bond Chapel assembles a group of musicians who appeared on the original recordings, playing through the new works live as compositions for the first time and taking them as launchpads for further improvisation.

In this presentation, Hara Alonso will share some of the work she has been doing during her residency at ESS, extending the piano through preparations and modular synthesizers.

Explore the synthesis of code, sound and moving images in this multimedia presentation and demo with Lisa Glenn Armstrong.

Join us for a garage sale of epic proportions featuring synthesizers, DIY and boutique noisemakers, records, vintage A/V equipment, refreshments, performances and camaraderie galore.

Visda Goudarzi will teach creative coding with audio. Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop to follow along.

Composers Xavier Beteta (Guatemala), Josh Rodriguez (Colombia), and Richard Scofano (Argentina), will offer three world premieres – a rich sonic feast presenting eclectic aesthetics that draw inspiration from classical, contemporary, and Latin American dance and folk music. A celebration of music by Chicago-based composers from Central and South America, this concert of new piano trio music performed by Stephen Uhl, Brian Ostrega, and Brian Gaona will also feature the bandoneon. 

Art as Civic Ritual is a Long-Table discussion, a participatory, non-hierarchical conversation for, with, and among the public about art making as a ritual for civic work, and a process for radical democracy. Featured guests  — artists, activists, and civic leaders Tonika Lewis Johnson, Faheem Majeed, Bindu Poroor, and Gibran Villalobos join the conversation to thicken and galvanize our dialogue.

Xadie James will explore their set up using triggers or contact microphones attached to drums. They will go through a step-by-step process of how to set up triggers using a Digital Audio Workstation, using anything you can attach to a microphone to make an instrument or play back found sounds.

Join us on October 5 for a collective action disseminating 600 lawn signs throughout Chicago as part of the multi-city counter campaign Exorcism = Liberation.

A panel discussion on multichannel sound work with Gabi Kinlock, Kim Nucci, Regina Martinez, and Beth Bradfish, moderated by ESS engineer Kate In.

Legendary sound collage group Negativland and “real-time cinema” visual artist SUE-C collaborate to bring you their latest audio-visual performance

This video documents a singular performance, which featured original images by Mazurek projected onto the Adler Planetarium’s domed ceiling and the Exploding Star Orchestra’s hypnotic interpretations of music from their album Lightning Dreamers (International Anthem, released 2024).

Join us in the Lincoln Park Conservatory Fern Room for a special Florasonic opening performance by Macie Stewart and Lia Kohl. The installation will play following the live performance.

Composer & vocalist Elizabeth Rudolph presents original songs and chamber music, featuring soprano Angela Born, pianist Florence Mak, and Theresa Lams on clarinet and saxophone.

Join us on Friday, September 13th at ESS for a night of synthesizer music.

Marissa Kerbel, pianist, will perform a program comprised entirely of new works by friends and colleagues with an emphasis on works by NMC composers.

A rare ensemble performance by Dave Rempis, Tomeka Reid, & Joshua Abrams, whose voices intertwine seamlessly into one multi-headed unit.

The urban + nature sonic pavilion is an auditory exhibition that explores how the sounds of nature are hidden and embedded in the soundtrack of the city.

ESS hosts a Meet & Greet/Q&A/Art Show featuring past Million Tongues Photos/posters. This event is a pre-party for the following two nights of the festival at Empty Bottle.

Chris Williams (trumpet/electronics) and Trae Crudup (percussion) debut their newly formed duo on the OPTION stage.

Brittany Karlson performs a solo bass set aided by balloons and a tiny glockenspiel. This cross-genre bassist will perform a largely improvised set featuring interspersed melodies by Duke Ellington, Thelonius Monk, and original compositions. 

This OPTION performance is part of an ongoing collaboration in psychic dialog between claire and Kim which includes personal ephemera, field recordings, poetry, and new visualisations created in partnership with Nilor AI.

Join us for poet John Yau’s debut on the OPTION stage!

Brandon will present new works for solo Banjo and 12-string electric guitar.

The urban + nature sonic pavilion is an auditory exhibition that explores how the sounds of nature are hidden and embedded in the soundtrack of the city.

We’re trying something new! This Friday, July 12th, we’re hosting a CAA Archive Listening Party & Jam session in our studio from 7-10 PM.

OPTION presents FLUTTER, the duo project of Fay Victor and Nicole Mitchell for voices, flute and electronics, with bassist/vocalist Devon Gates joining for a portion of the set.