Join us for a homecoming fundraising event featuring Roscoe Mitchell, Junius Paul, Ben LaMar Gay, and Natural Information Society. Proceeds will support the continued success of ESS. Halcyon Chorus takes place in-person and streaming Saturday, August 14th from 4-7pm CDT.

Join us for a VIP EXCLUSIVE day 3 of the epic DREAMSTREAM, a special online fundraiser honoring Laetitia Sonami.

Join us for day 2 of the epic DREAMSTREAM, a special online fundraiser honoring Laetitia Sonami.

Join us for day 1 of the epic DREAMSTREAM, a special online fundraiser honoring Laetitia Sonami.

Experimental Sound Studio is holding Chicago’s only sound and music themed holiday market in collaboration with Twisted Hippo in Albany Park. Featuring some of the Midwest’s finest instrument makers, record labels, audio equipment purveyors, and craftspeople of all kinds.

Join us for Drag Queen Bingo at Hamburger Mary’s for a fun night of games, good food and incredible prizes as a fundraiser for Experimental Sound Studio.

Support ESS in our 2018 Annual Benefit Concert at Sleeping Village.

Join us in celebrating our fourth season of Option, a weekly series of improvised music curated by Ken Vandermark, Tim Daisy, and Andrew Clinkman, and hosted by ESS. Keep Your Options Open II will feature Nate Wooley’s powerhouse trio, Icepick; Mat Maneri as a special guest on violin and viola; and a premiere of a new work entitled, “310 Lines” by Amanda DeBoer Bartlett (voice) with Katie Young (bassoon and electronics) and Jenna Lyle (voice and movement). We’ll keep the party going after with John Corbett spinning records along with special guest DJ Peter Margasak. We'll also have Sketchbook Brewing serving their finest seasonal brews for the evening. As a token of our appreciation for all of our Option supporters, we will be releasing a special limited edition CD featuring artists from the 2017 Option season. Funds raised from this evening will go directly back into the series, supporting artist fees and travel in 2018.

Join ESS in celebrating our October membership drive with a live-streamed party at Maria's in Bridgeport. Bring your friends to relax with a cocktail, support ESS, and listen to music DJ'd by Hayden Beck, Glenna J. Fitch, and BIGGIDZ. 

Maria's will generously donate a portion of bar sales from this Happy Hour to ESS.

Join ESS for our summer gala! With performances by Tortoise, Helen Gillet with Kim Alpert, TALsounds, and Jeff Parker/Ben LaMar Gay/Tomeka Reid, this is a line up you do not want to miss. All proceeds go directly back into our programs, supporting the artists we work with and helping ESS continue to make space for creative experimentation.

You've never dined like this before! At this unique dinner, we're putting mics on every place setting to create a cacophonous, immersive sound and dining experience. Join us for an evening of eating loudly.

This event will raise funds towards ESS's 2017 programming in Audible Gallery.
 
Catering by The Rice Table

Please join us for an intimate feast prepared by ESS Executive Director Lou Mallozzi. (Beyond his achievements as an artist and educator, Lou has achieved some renown as a talented gastronome.) You'll get an insider look into the workings of Chicago's premiere resource for the creation, presentation and preservation of sound artworks in all media through conversation with artists and other figures in the ESS community—all while being treated to the sonic stylings of LeRoy Bach (Wilco) and Nick Butcher (My Silence, Sonnenzimmer). Your generous donation of $100/plate will support ESS’s ongoing programming and artist development iniatives as it enters its 30th year of operation in 2016.

We're partnering once again with our friends at Whole Foods Sauganash to deliver an evening of wine, cheese and music by three of our favorite players: James Falzone, Paul Giallorenzo, and Peter Maunu. Enjoy nine wines with cheese pairings presented by Whole Foods' expert staff, then listen as the musicians translate the characteristics and flavors of the fare into improvised sound. The evening will conclude in our verdant garden with light appetizers and an intimate performance by the trio of musicians.

ESS presents an evening of performances by Ken Vandermark & Fred Lonberg-Holm and Katherine Young, at Heaven Gallery on Saturday, September 21st. All proceeds will support the Malachi Ritscher Legacy Commissions, a new initiative of the Creative Audio Archive.

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.

ESS is pleased to present a rare, intimate solo performance by a legend of European improvised music, horn player Peter Brötzmann. Brötzmann has decades of playing and over 100 recordings under his belt, and has collaborated with the likes of Bill Laswell, Mats Gustafson, Anthony Braxton, Hamid Drake, Keiji Haino, and Sonny Sharrock, among many others. As the above quotes indicate, he is a monster of a player whose aggressively physical approach and caustic sound has come to characterize and influence an entire genre of music. Don't miss this uncommon opportunity to see a jazz legend perform in close quarters!

Experimental Sound Studio is having a fundraiser on APRIL 30TH AT 8PM at Logan Square cocktail & music destination The Whistler. Performers include cornetist Rob Mazurek's new ensemble Screaming Planet, featuring Mazurek on cornet, Jeff Kowalkowski (piano), The Eternals' Damon Locks (voice), and percussionist Carrie Biolo. Avant-rock outfit Health&Beauty will also perform. There will be a raffle and silent auction for goods and services from Shure, ESS, various recording artists, screen printers and more.

We at ESS are excited to throw our third Vinosonic fundraiser! Come out and enjoy an eclectic and international selection of wines furnished and presented by In Fine Spirits, live improvised music by Jason Adasiewicz, Matt Clark, Dave Rempis and ESS's own Adam Vida, as well as Sandra Binion's 4-channel video installation Vino. The price of admission goes toward ESS's continuing public presentation and community outreach initiatives, which are impossible without your generosity.

Vinosonic II is a special event at Experimental Sound Studio—fine wines are paired with pieces of live and electronic music for a unique sound-and-taste experience.