One of Zachary James Watkins’ objectives as an artist is to expose natural phenomena. He is interested in the physical aspects of sound and has developed a sensibility that focuses heavily on Resonance. “Vibration is at the core of my experience of Resonance. I am moved by natural resonances that exist around us all. My own work strives to develop and nurture Resonances by negotiating sensitive relationships among a number of what I identify as critical ingredients for psychedelic phenomena: resonant bodies exciting harmonic energy creating diverse waves, beating and phase patterns diffused spatially with full dynamic range, and a deep attention to the body and how it engages with the environment. High Vibration Resonance.”

Zachary James Watkins studied composition with Janice Giteck, Jarrad Powell, Robin Holcomb and Jovino Santos Neto at Cornish College. In 2006, he received an MFA in Electronic Music and Recording Media from Mills College where he studied with Chris Brown, Fred Frith, Alvin Curran and Pauline Oliveros. He has received commissions from The Switch Ensemble, Density512, the Beam Foundation, sfsound, The Living Earth Show, Kronos Quartet, and the Seattle Chamber Players, among others. He has performed in numerous festivals across the United States, Mexico and Europe, and his work is released on labels such as Sige, Cassauna, Confront (UK), The Tapeworm, and Touch (UK). Novembre Magazine (DE), ITCH (ZA), Leonardo Press, Walrus Press, and the New York Miniature Ensemble have published his writings and scores. Zachary has been an artist-in-resident at the Espy Foundation, Djerassi, the Headlands Center for The Arts, and the Amant Foundation Siena, Italy.

From the hinterland of Portland, OR comes Italian-born composer and multimedia artist Vern Avola, who as Trigger Object infuses a cheerfully unhinged flair to the music scene with their unconventional approach and dark sense of humor. Formerly operating as Avola, their 2023 album Psykor was selected as a top 50 release by The Wire, who aptly described their output as “a sprawling dustbin of cosmic oddities shot through with shuddering blasts and shuffling full spectrum noise.” Drone, rhythmic dance music, ambient, and harsh noise can all be found in their “delirious, Amanita Muscaria-soaked sense of dynamics.” (The Quietus)

Aaron Turner is a musician and artist based in Vashon, WA, publicly active since 1995. Most widely recognized for his role as a founding member of the metal bands SUMAC and Isis, he has also participated in projects such as House of Low Culture, Greymachine, and Mamiffer. Active primarily as a guitarist, he has maintained an abiding interest in tethering conscious content to subverted/intuitive uses of the instrument. His output has been informed by lifetime involvement with underground metal and punk, often materializing in highly abstracted forms utilizing improvisation and longform composition. He has collaborated with artists such as Tashi Dorji, Justin Broadrick, Keiji Haino, Patrick Shiroishi, Will Brooks (Dälek), Heather Leigh, Stephen O’Malley, Masami Akita, Caspar Brötzmann, Kevin Martin/The Bug, and many others. Turner was the founder/art director of the Hydra Head Records label, and more recently the co-founder SIGE Records with partner Faith Coloccia. Current projects include ongoing work with SUMAC, solo performances/recordings, as well as collaborations with Daniel Menche and Jussi Lehtisalo of Circle amongst others. His performance for this show will be examinations of the intersection between recognizable riff forms and improvised drones/textures, and the emotional resonances that lie therein. 

Curated by Kole Galbraith for Nonsequitur‘s NonSeq series.

Lots of ceramic pots, tiny percussion instruments, drums, an interactive computer and…a big red balloon!

Storm Benjamin, Jeff Lund, and Andrew Spencer present a diverse program of music on rather unusual instruments. The centerpiece of the program is Time and Space for three percussionists by composer and one-time Seattle resident Dave Hollinden. The piece uses fifteen ceramic flower pots, and a dozen drums to create an engaging work that combines unique techniques, transfixing interlocking rhythms, and a structure that compels the listener into a unique auditory space. The other trio on the program is Triangle Trio by Juri Seo. A lengthy triangle cadenza (yes…It’s true!) starts this clever work whose instrumentation consists of only triangle, castanets, and tambourine. The rhythmic interplay between the three instruments produces an exuberantly compelling work.


Three solo pieces round out the program. Stop Speaking by Andy Akiho is for solo snare drum and computer using the voice from the early Apple computer voice assistant. Written for a collection of tuned steel pipes, Solo for Anthony Cirone by Lou Harrison is an example of compositions for found instruments that emerged on the West Coast with composers like Harrison and Cage. Scratch by Rolf Wallin is written for solo percussionist and a big red balloon. It’s an engaging theatrical work that creates a sense of wonder at the multitude of sounds the balloon is capable of!

Saxophonist and composer Evan Smith will premiere a new set of solo saxophone music, taking advantage of the exceptional acoustics of the Chapel Performance Space. After years of composing shorter works for solo saxophone, Evan began developing a solo set to be debuted as part of a Racer Sessions curation in 2023. With the goal of moving seamlessly between these compositions and his own improvisational language, he has committed himself to continuing his extended solo performances, drawing on inspirations such as Evan Parker, Anthony Braxton, and Roscoe Mitchell.

John Teske will present new graphic scores and guided improvisations with an ensemble of local musicians. For the past 15 years, John has been exploring the distillation of musical concepts and how to perform with any collection of instruments. John will premiere new works in which he has re-interpreted concepts from western classical music as algorithmically-generated graphic scores, with inspiration from other genres such as drone music and metal. The ensemble will also revisit some of John’s original ‘vectorscores’ that make use of animation to promote spontaneous improvisation.

Any Ensemble:
Evan Smith, saxophone
Noel Kennon, viola
John Teske, double bass
Aaron Butler, percussion
Jonathan Rodriguez, percussion

Evan Smith’s musical landscape lives in multiple worlds. Most often seen touring with local pop outfit, The Dip, Evan has also been an active figure in Seattle’s free and improvised music scenes for over a decade. Originally settling in Seattle to pursue doctoral work in Saxophone Performance at the University of Washington, he has a long history with classical and contemporary concert saxophone works and has been dedicated to commissioning and performing new repertoire for the instrument.

John Teske writes contemporary concert music and presents site-specific performances. Teske’s compositional approach explores the balance between intentional composition and spontaneous expression. He uses algorithmic techniques to generate scores and musical systems that incorporate variation, chance, and improvisation.

An evening of live electronics and quadraphonic computer synthesis featuring Canadian composer Stefan Maier with a supporting set by RM Francis.

Stefan Maier is a composer and artist based in Vancouver, Canada. Highlighting material instability and unruliness, his work explores the flows of sonic matter through sound systems, instruments, software, and bodies, to uncover alternate histories, modes of listening, and authorship possible within specific technologically-mediated situations. His work has been presented by Haus der Kulturen der Welt (DE), INA-GRM (FR), National Music Centre (CA), Liquid Architecture (AU), Ultima festival (NO), Gaudeamus Muziekweek (NL), MONOM (DE), and Unsound Festival (PL), among many others. His work as a sound designer has been presented internationally, with recent projects presented at Sterischer Herbst (AU), International Film Festival Rotterdam (NL), Vleeshal Center for Contemporary Art (NE), and V-A-C foundation (RU). Stefan is Assistant Professor of Sound Art and Sound Design at the School of Contemporary Art at Simon Fraser University.

RM Francis is an artist based in Seattle working with computer-generated sound and language via recording, installation, and performance. He has presented work at the Mills College Center for Contemporary Music (Oakland), Gray Area (San Francisco), Kolonia Artystów (Gdańsk), as well as clubs, auditoriums, warehouses, and galleries throughout North America. His practice foregrounds computation-based compositional strategies, focusing on methods that exploit discrepancies between human and artificial auditory systems. His current work exploits latent phonological data extracted from non-linguistic sound in order to generate the tonal, rhythmic, and semantic content of synthesized speech. In addition to his solo projects, in recent years he has collaborated with Jack Callahan & Jeff Witscher, Jung An Tagen, and farmersmanual, among others.

David Stanford and Dave Knott have been experimenting with bristlebots/hexbugs (little vibrating motor driven toy bugs) inside cast aluminum kitchen pan lids. The result is a sustained ringing created by the perpetual circular motion of the hexbugs inside the lids, with periodic contrasting “pings” and all manner of subtle changes in overtones based on the action of each individual bug/lid combination as well as the interaction across multiple lids.  

An array of these automated overtone generators will be situated around the room. The sunset through the Chapel’s west-facing stained glass windows will complement and integrate with the lighting below each of the lids. Movement between and among the array will allow ample space for observing the environment while the sun is going down.

David Stanford is a musician and sound artist living and working in Seattle. He currently plays with graphic score group Eye Music, silent movie soundtrack creators Aono Jikken Ensemble, feedback-based electronics trio Gyre, and for the past several years has been focused on staging sound events at outdoor locations such as beaches, backyards, and forests in collaboration with Michael Shannon and Joan Laage. 

Dave Knott gathers, plays with sounds; nurtures change with music; enjoys dialogue with movement, listening and dreaming with particular interests in timbre, listening practice, the tension between utility and aesthetics of music & the forms exposed through exercises in instability. Eye Music, Animist Orchestra, Yes, well…, Greasy, Major Knott, Anomalous Records Thursday Nights above the Artificial Limb Company, Messenger Girls Trio, Metaphonic Orchestra, Omake & Johnson, Ready Made Ensemble…

Seattle improvised music legend Skerik will be performing solo saxophone with a keyboard and a multiple EFX system based around harmonizers and a balanced continuous matrix routing system allowing the performer to program the effects in multiple arrays, series or parallel. It is a large system that requires careful set up and hours and days of programming. The result is up to nine independant voices controlled by one saxophone, opening up compositional ideas and improvisations that are mellifluous, dynamic and symphonic. Inspired by composers and improvisors such as Wayne Shorter, Ornette Coleman, Olivier Messiaen, Steve Reich, etc.

Skerik will be joined by two amazing Seattle artists bringing visual concepts and sound system control:

Blazinspace is a pseudonym for the artist Gardenia Theroux. They use digital projectors to transform space into an immersive experience.

Mell Dettmer is a record producer, recording, mixing and mastering engineer from Seattle. She is the owner of Studio Soli in West Seattle. Mell has found a way to capture the essence of an artist and their recordings. From her work as an live engineer crossing continents with her dear friend Femi Kuti, to her travels with her husband and the artists they cherish in Mali, West Africa. Few music producers have Mell Dettmer’s ear and experiences to match. She has worked with artists and groups such as Femi Kuti, Earth, Sunn O))), Wolves in the Throne Room, Boris, Eyvind Kang, Jesse Sykes, Clinton Fearon, Polyrythmics, and Sun City Girls.

Curated by Beth Fleenor for Nonsequitur’s Nonseq series.

Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, Aida Shirazi is a composer and performer of acoustic and electroacoustic music. In her works for solo instruments, voice, ensemble, orchestra, and electronics, Shirazi mainly focuses on timbre for organizing structures inspired by language and literature. She holds a PhD in Composition and Music Theory from the University of California, Davis and is a 2022 graduate of IRCAM’s Cursus Program in Composition and Computer Music. Shirazi is a co-founder and co-artistic director of the Iranian Female Composers Association (IFCA.)

Niloufar Shiri’s musical world lies at the intersection of classical Iranian music, contemporary music, and improvisation. Her focus revolves around exploring the concept of displacement in relation to familiar and distant environments. Her music closely examines textural and timbral spaces, drawing inspiration from staggered pitch relations found in the Radif, as well as bird sounds, noise, and feedback. Her unique and radical approach to kamancheh performance significantly expands the sonic capabilities of the instrument and places her at the forefront of its practice.

In addition to performing solo sets, the artists will also play a set as a duo.

Curated for Nonsequitur’s NonSeq series by Naeim Rahmani.

Warren Realrider is a Pawnee/Crow multidisciplinary sound artist based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is currently a part of the 2024-2026 cohort at the Tulsa Artist Fellowship. While studying painting at the University of Oklahoma he began an exploration of sound, materials, and site as elements of his art practice. Warren created the Tick-Suck noise performance project in 2016 and has since presented his solo works and sound performance collaborations in varied Oklahoma locations as well as distant locales such as S. Windham, Vermont and Los Angeles. His works, such as IIII Kitapâtu and Unassigned Data, work within the unclaimed spaces between contemporary n. american plains existence, universe engagement, and untethered sound to create sonic focused structures of human/item interface. Realrider works to play the tensions and time locations between objects, functions, and movements to create sound pieces assembled on the frameworks of noise art, improvisation, and experimental composition. Realrider will present a performance constructed from the lashing together of disparate sources of foraged audio reflecting his journey from Tulsa via Vermont to NonSeq in Seattle. Realrider will build a sound framework from his current, gathered field recordings and sample sets which will provide structure for electro-improv channeling of eco-input from selected Seattle locations/relations. 

Nathan Young is an experimental musician, improvisor and artist whose expanded practice includes drone, noise music and sound art. Young is the founder and curator of Tulsa Noise, Tulsa Noisefest and the Peyote Tapes record label. His music performances often explore the idioms of drone music and harsh noise and are characterized by heavy atmospherics and ecstatic intensity. Performing with a constantly evolving array of electronic and electro-acoustic instruments, Young uses extended and experimental techniques to create heavy and meditative drone compositions. He has released over 60 + recordings on independent labels as Alms, Narco Alms, Ajilvsga, Postcommodity, Flora Morte and Spirit Plate. Nathan co-founded the artist collective Postcommodity (2006-2015) and holds an MFA in Music / Sound from Bard College’s Milton-Avery School of the Arts. Young is a PhD candidate in the University of Oklahoma’s innovative Native American Art History Doctoral program where his scholarship is focused on Indigenous Sonic Agency. Nathan is the 2024-2025 recipient of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts John Cage Award.

Curated by Kole Galbraith for Nonsequitur‘s NonSeq series.

Pianist Michelle Huang presents Classical Connection through the Ages: a lens through centuries of musical soundscape, connecting composers from the past and the present, featuring works by Debussy, Natalie Williams, Brahms, Missy Mazzoli, William Bolcom, and Carter Pann. This solo piano concert will feature three pairs of piano works, connecting living composers with pieces that were influenced and inspired by the established masters. 

Program:

Debussy Feux d’artifice (Fireworks) from Prelude Book II
Debussy Poisson d’or (Gold Fish) from Images Book II
Natalie Williams Five Bagatelles
Missy Mazzoli Bolts of Loving Thunder
Brahms Fantasie, Op. 116 
Carter Pann The Bills: 1. “William Albright” A Concert Rag
William Bolcom Graceful Ghost Rag

A native of Taiwan, pianist Michelle Huang enjoys a rewarding career as a dynamic soloist and chamber musician. She is happiest when playing concerts that allow her to storytell, to make connections, and to create an expansive and imaginative listening experience for the audience. She resides in Seattle with her husband and their beloved Golden Retriever, Tomo.

Seattle-bred, New York-based brass quartet The Westerlies return home to present their annual initiative Westerlies Fest, including NYC improvisers tilt – Isabel Crespo Pardo, Kalia Vandever, and Carmen Quill.

tilt exists in the space between improvisation and song, elastic and flowing, their music emerges from a shared love of words and experimentation. This Brooklyn-based collective brings together the voices of Isabel Crespo Pardo, Kalia Vandever, Carmen Q Rothwell. The intimacy found in the ensemble is apparent through their evolving chemistry on stage and their symbiotic improvisational approach.

The Westerlies: “an arty quartet…mixing ideas from jazz, new classical, and Appalachian folk” (New York Times) are a New York-based brass quartet comprised of childhood friends from Seattle: Riley Mulherkar and Chloe Rowlands on trumpet, and Andy Clausen and Addison Maye-Saxon on trombone. From Carnegie Hall to Coachella, The Westerlies navigate a wide array of venues and projects with the precision of a string quartet, the audacity of a rock band, and the charm of a family sing-along.