OPTION 2023, every Sunday this summer!

ESS has produced and presented the OPTION series since 2015, featuring over 260 musicians working across a broad range of improvised music practices. In addition to series founders and curators Ken Vandermark and Andrew Clinkman, in 2023 OPTION welcomes drummer and composer Lily Finnegan to the curatorial team. 

Following three years as a virtual series and in various partner venues throughout the city, in 2023 OPTION returns home to ESS’s studio and garden in Chicago’s far north side. In a 'salon' format, diverse local, national, and international contemporary musicians discuss their practices and perform. Performances and interviews are planned for ESS’s picturesque garden, or the intimate setting of ESS’s Studio A Live Room, as determined by the artist’s vision. June-August enjoy performances every Sunday at 3pm CT.

The June line-up includes:

June 4: Francisco Mela (solo)

June 11: Sarah Clausen (solo)

June 18: Whisker (Ben Billington/Andrew Scott Young)

June 25: Gabby Fluke-Mogul (solo)

Additional artists in the 2023 season include Ben Hall and Kayleigh Wilder; Angela Sawyer; Jaribu Shahid; Shanta Nurullah; Erez Dessel; Devon Gates and Fay Victor. Full line-up is to be announced in the coming weeks. 

Both ESS’s garden and the indoor facilities are ADA compliant.