A showcase of deep-listening music from local fringers. Experimental ambient, noise, and sonic landscapes constructed from diverse textures and tones.

Aaron Michael Butler is a percussionist, composer, weirdo, and educator based in Seattle. He strives to create Sonic spaces for contemplation, disassociation, and/or spacing out. Sometimes it’s pretty, sometimes it’s soft noise, sometimes it’s loud, dense, and cathartic.

Balcony View is the project of James Chancellor “Chance” Bridges, formerly of Birmingham, AL. It explores soundscapes in varying styles, from soft ambient to noise to drone/doom, using any instruments and noise makers he can get his hands on. Performances vary wildly and rely heavily on improvisation.

Corpse Pose is the ambient guitar drone project of Stephan Blount. Songs begin with simple structure and memorable melodies while slowly moving into an ambient exploration on a theme. Taking its name from the final meditation in yoga, the sounds are meant to inspire renewal, routines, perspectives and reflections.

Meadowgoat is a project exploring the sounds of natural cycles and structures with live-processed synthesizer soundscapes. Improvised sets travel from bedrock to flower with a captivating mixture of dungeon synth melodies, raw noise, nature ambient, and textured drone.

SMO will return to the Chapel Performance Space for its second concert, featuring exclusively small chamber and solo works. The program includes Ash Fure’s piano trio therefore i was, world premieres by Jérémy Jolley for piano and electronics and cello and percussion from his contro-)clessidra series, and a remembrance of Canadian composer, R. Murray Schafer, with the performance of his virtuosic work for solo harp,The Crown of Ariadne. 

Performers: 

Sarah Pyle, flute
Rachel Yoder, clarinet
Ha-Yang Kim, cello 
Bonnie Whiting, percussion
Cristina Valdes, piano 
Sophie Baird-Daniel, harp

The ninth chapter of Joyce’s last novel, performed from memory, and with acute attention to musical detail, by Neal Kosaly-Meyer. The midpoint of an epic 17-year project, the performance is presented in the serendipitously apt Chapel space, with liturgical/theatrical atmosphere, including carefully conceived set and sound design.

For the safety of all present, masks are encouraged.

Nonsequitur presents composer and clarinetist Angelique Poteat, the 2022-23 Seattle Symphony Artist in Residence, in an evening of her compositions inspired by the Pacific Northwest. Praised by the New York Times as “engaging, relevant,” Angelique’s music is rhythmically charged and colorfully picturesque. Works on the program include The Goose Egg, composed to narration of the children’s book by Liz Wong, as well as her clarinet quintet Six Seasons, which will be featured at the 2023 International Clarinet Festival.

Angelique is joined by an all-star cast of performers: Laura DeLuca (clarinet and narration), Mikhail Shmidt (violin), Natasha Bazhanov (violin), Olivia Chew (viola), Sarah Rommel (cello), Joe Kaufman (double bass), Matt Kocmierosky (percussion), Dawn Posey (violin), Camille Ripple (viola), Hsing-Hui Hsu (clarinet), and Elliot Isaacson (viola).

The music of Angelique Poteat has been described as “engaging, restless” (The New York Times) and “serious and nicely crafted” (American Record Guide) and has been recorded and performed on four continents by ensembles including the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Emerald City Music, and arx Percussion Duo. Her genre-crossing music has been programmed alongside both classical and popular music legends, including Mike McCready, Chris Cornell, and members of Mad Season. Poteat is currently a 2022-23 Seattle Arts & Culture CityArtist, the Seattle Symphony Artist in Residence, and the Director of the Seattle Symphony Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop. 

Guitarist Dennis Rea presents a rare solo set of original pieces, interpretations of Asian and other world music, improvisation, and select covers.

Active since the mid-1970s, Rea has led or been a key contributor to musical innovators Moraine, Iron Kim Style, LAND, Savant, Flame Tree, and Earthstar, and has worked with such trailblazing musicians as Hector Zazou, Stuart Dempster, Cui Jian, Albert Kuvezin, Klaus Schulze, Steve Fisk, Han Bennink, Hawkwind members Nik Turner and Michael Moorcock, and members of King Crimson, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Santana, Ministry, Yat Kha, and the Sun Ra Arkestra. He has performed widely in the U.S., Asia, and Europe and has appeared on roughly 50 recordings to date. Rea’s work has increasingly focused on bridging musical traditions from around the planet in personalized ways.

Carol J Levin opens with a singular solo set that will include free harp and percussion elements and improvised explorations of musical favorites, with special guest(s).

Carol has established a unique niche as Seattle’s improvising harpist. Returning to the harp after classical training in her youth, she has been embraced by jazz and free improvisation communities for her creative voice and for extending the capabilities of the harp beyond its expected style. Carol’s music is full of surprises with styles varying from beautiful melodic lines to challenging and experimental tangents with electronic effects and loops, often incorporating percussion and stringed instruments from other cultures.

Kin of the Moon teams up with gong artist Stephanie Wood to present new works and psychedelic improvisations.

Kin of the Moon returns to the Chapel Performance Space to perform two works inspired by the natural world: delicate balance, an ode to the fragility of the ecosystem on the Galapagos Islands by Kaley Lane Eaton, and Ichneumonidae, a song cycle about insects by Heather Bentley. They’re joined by gong/percussion artist Stephanie Wood for an exploration of the Ganzfeld concept in improvisation.

Kin of the Moon is composers Kaley Lane Eaton (voice, piano, electronics), Heather Bentley (viola, cello, violin), and Leanna Keith (flutes). The group explores sonic rituals, promotes cross-pollination of genres, emphasizes the communicative power of specific performance locales and celebrates the creativity that multiplies itself through the collaboration of performers and composers. The artists of Kin of the Moon devote their lives to reaching higher vibrational levels through sound creation.

As part of Table & Chairs‘ new Weekend Residency program, Los Angeles-based musician and performer Mingjia Chen will collaborate with Seattle’s Abbey Blackwell and Kayce Guthmiller for an evening of music interweaving song and improvisation into a fluid performance. 

Born in Beijing, raised in Toronto, and based in Los Angeles, Mingjia Chen is a vocalist, composer, improviser, & multi-instrumentalist. Mingjia writes music that is equal parts ethereal and relatable, and performs it with courage and honesty. She makes music across a wide range of genres as a solo artist & as the vocalist and bandleader of the tortoise orchestra. An avid collaborator, she is a member of synth-pop duo uoou, GRAMMY award-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth, and post-punk band Pleasure Craft. Mingjia has performed at venues and festivals across Canada, China, Europe, and the US, premiering works by Juliet Palmer, David Occhipinti, & Michael Davidson, sharing the stage with the Regina Symphony Orchestra as a soloist, and seeing her compositions premiered at Mass MoCA, The Art Gallery of Ontario, & Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Composition at the USC Thornton School of Music. Mingjia has produced four releases as a band leader, and her debut solo full-length is forthcoming from New Amsterdam Records.

Abbey Blackwell is a multi-faceted double and electric bassist in Seattle, WA. She is a member of many musical scenes in Seattle’s music community, including the improvised, rock, classical, and jazz spheres. In addition to playing in a variety of groups, she also has a band of her own, Rae, which features her compositions and group improvisation with Ronan Delisle (guitar) and Evan Woodle (drums). Abbey has performed and recorded with a variety of artists including Jonathan Wilson, La Luz, Macklemore, Myrkur, Thousands, Red Ribbon, Alvvays, and Cassandra Jenkins. In addition to recording, she plays in a wide array of groups around Seattle including with Wayne Horvitz, The Seattle Modern Orchestra, Tomo Nakayama, and Great Spiders. Abbey holds a master’s degree in Jazz and Improvised Music and a bachelor’s of music in Double Bass Performance from the University of Washington.

Kayce Guthmiller is a violist, vocalist, songwriter, and improviser born and raised in Boise, Idaho. Currently based in Seattle, they graduated from Cornish College of the Arts in 2021. Through Cornish they explored unlearning the restraint of their classical training and embraced experimentation and songwriting, looking up to their influences Andrew Bird, Fleet Foxes, and Joni Mitchell among them. Kayce was featured on Chris Thile’s Live From Here in 2020 and wrote, produced, recorded, and released their debut album in the solitude of 2021, the slow, with mentorship from Seattle’s Dr. Kaley Lane Eaton and Heather Bentley. The record, featuring predominantly just viola, voice, and drums, is a sparse, nostalgic homage to memory, the wounds of childhood, isolation, and the sweetness of connection.

(photo of Mingjia Chen by Erika Poh)

“Seattleʼs St Celfer writes immersive electronic songs that encompass both haunting beauty & wild experimentalism.” – BANDCAMP

St Celfer, of Korean and American origin, currently lives between São Paulo and Seattle, the latter living off/on since 1990. A fan of Seattle grunge, was, once upon a time, in the 00’s New York scene performing, among other places, at CBGB’s, The Kitchen, Tonic, The Tank, Remote Lounge, Galapagos Art Space, Sputnik, and Stinger Club.  

During the isolation of the pandemic, St Celfer developed an innovative and sophisticated electronic instrument – a “gambiarra,” in Brasilian Portuguese – named Step4D™. This unpredictable instrument is designed to be played and heard live, in real time, and works in a way that bypasses step by step, rational thinking. Every unique performance embraces chaos and forms songs from turmoil.

St Celfer has twice been named New & Notable on BANDCAMP (2021 & 2022), and is the featured wave track for Infrasonica issue #7, ‘Voicing Abstraction’. Much of his work can also be found on his YouTube channel.

Christin Call is an assemblage artist living in Seattle and making work primarily at the cross-section of dance, film, installation, and poetry. She received her BA in Painting and Art History from Wichita State University, co-founded Coriolis Dance and was co-Artistic Director for 14 years. She is also the founder of The Shed, a performance installation space that facilitates residencies for artists with complex practices. 

Sid Samberg, a composer-pianist originally from Chicago, is honored to join the local music scene as a new Seattle resident. He will perform his original works for piano solo, which explore concepts ranging from the personal (how we construct reality as individuals) to the global (addressing the worsening climate crisis).

Sid Samberg (b. 1989) is a composer-pianist, multi-instrumentalist, writer, and educator. His music flows from an inner voice which connects the emotional content of sound with deeply felt aspects of human experience. He has been described as “uncommonly talented” (John Von Rhein – Chicago Tribune).

Samberg has been called an “eco-pianist” as a result of his musical engagement with climate change. Several of his works, such as Larsen B (2004) and Harvest (2011) are inspired by or dedicated to our relationship with nature.

His recent collaborations include Zero Tolerance, a collaborative project with C. Eule Dance Company about a mother and daughter separated by ICE at the US-Mexico border; the release of LUDO, an EP recording of a modular graphic score written for him by composer Drew Corey, and a performance on piano and keyboards with the NYC experimental black metal band Liturgy in their opera Origin of the Alimonies, at REDCAT in LA. Samberg has a degree in composition from California Institute of the Arts.

Seattle cellist Lori Goldston plays two solo sets, one acoustic and one amplified, to launch her new solo LP High and Low, some of which was recorded in the beautiful Chapel space. 

Lori Goldston is a cellist and composer from Seattle. Her voice as a cellist draws connections between far-flung idioms, and explores timbral thresholds of her instrument. Her work glides easily and across borders, building on a restless curiosity and a long history of collaborations with bands, orchestras, composers, film makers and choreographers, including Earth, Nirvana, the BBC Scottish Symphony, Mirah, Jherek Bischoff, Jessika Kenney, Eyvind Kang, Ilan Volkov, Vanessa Renwick, David Byrne, Terry Riley, Lonnie Holley, Stuart Dempster, Torben Ulrich, Shelley Hirsch, Ghedalia Tezartes, Senga Nengudi, Ellen Fullman, Lynn Shelton, Natacha Atlas, Jim Fletcher, Matana Roberts, Marisa Anderson, Maya Dunietz, and many, many others.

She performs her work at venues and festivals throughout the US, Mexico, Canada, Australia and Europe, including the Kennedy Center, Joe’s Pub, Cineteca Nacional de Mexico, Henry Art Gallery, Frye Art Museum, PS21, Tectonics, Le Guess Who?, On the Boards, Bumbershoot, TBA, What the Heck Fest, Chicago Humanities Festival, River to River, Sydney Festival, and for Paris Fashion Week. She has released recordings on Sub Rosa, Woodland Fauna, Marginal Frequency, Yo Yo, K Records, Second Editions, Sub Pop, Mississippi Records, Eiderdown, Substrata, SofaBurn, Ed Banger, PIAPTK, SofaBurn, Broken Clover, and No Sun.

For the safety of all present, wearing masks is encouraged.