Elastic Arts, 3429 W Diversey #208, Chicago, IL (2025)

11/18/2025

At this Thursday’s Improvised Music Series we welcome Florian Nastorg from Toulouse France (and the recent The Bridge band!) with a stellar quartet put together by Hunter Diamond. Chicago duo .VOM opens up the night with a set of ambient sax / guitar duo. Music at 8:30pm!

8:30pm .VOM

Rufus Parenti - sax, electronics
Leo Buczkowski - guitar, electronics

9:30pm Florian Nastorg Quartet

Florian Nastorg - sax
Allen Moore - turntables
Mabel Kwan - piano
Tim Daisy - drum set

11/17/2025

TONIGHT!

This evening’s Pleiades Series serves as a record release celebration for Amanda Kraus’ project Soft Five! We’ll also hear from abstract voice/electronics composer Paige Alice Naylor. We hope you can join us for a very special Monday night!

Soft Five is the solo project of Chicago drummer and sound artist Amanda Kraus. Born out of a desire to explore rhythm, texture, and atmosphere, Soft Five uses drums, gongs, synthesizers and bass to build on layered textures oscillating between minimalism, building tension and rhythmic momentum. Drawing from minimalism, horror soundtracks, and electroacoustic improvisation, Soft Five’s music invites listeners to experience percussion as both texture and tone. Proceeds from the new album DOMESTICATA support local organizations including Resilience Chicago and the Greater Chicago Food Depository, extending the project’s sense of care beyond the studio.

Paige Alice Naylor is a Chicago-based experimental vocalist, sound artist and educator. Through sound-making and performance, she investigates time, perception, the breakdown of language, and themes of death through electronically processed voice, multichannel sound installation, hardware electronics, tape loops, handmade electronics, and samplers. Her direct and interpersonal approach creates live sonic environments which feel vulnerable and intimate.

Music at 8pm.

11/17/2025

In conjunction with Experimental Sound Studio and the CLEAT Series we’ve reached the final week of our series of artist-led introduction workshops exploring spatial audio.

To close out the series on Tuesday evening we feature Hugo Flores Garcîa! Hugo is a computer musician, improviser, programmer, and scientist. Hugo’s creative practice spans improvised and composed music for guitars, sound objects and electronics, sound installations, bespoke digital musical instruments, and interactive art. Hugo is a PhD candidate at Northwestern University, doing research at the intersection of applied machine learning, music, and human-computer interaction. Hugo’s research centers around designing new instruments for creative expression, focusing on artist-centered machine learning interfaces for the sound arts.

The workshops are approximately 2 hours and will begin with a demonstration and discussion of each individual artist’s approach to multichannel sound. In the second half of the workshops, participants will have an opportunity to experiment with multichannel sound techniques on the 16-channel CLEAT system installed at Elastic.

No prior experience with multichannel sound necessary! You will need to bring your own laptop to actively participate in the second half of each workshop, however you are also welcome to simply listen and observe without a laptop.

The workshops are FREE but space is limited. See you Tuesday evening, 7:30PM!

11/15/2025

TONIGHT!

Indigo Sessions is a collective show series founded by Aliyah Jones. Its creation was driven by the mission to highlight the artistry of Black Women and Q***r folk, while fostering a community where our stories can flourish without barriers. Join us for a special Indigo Session in partnership with the Dark Matter Series which will feature: Indigo, Anaiet.Soul, Carmani Edwards, Hasani Cannon, and the pottery creations of Michelle Ratchford. We’ll see you tonight at 8PM

11/15/2025

This Sunday join Seraph Brass for an afternoon of music and community in support of their upcoming projects. Proceeds from this fundraiser will help make possible initiatives such as a residency with BLUME Haiti, a music education program serving young musicians in Haiti, while also advancing their mission to amplify the voices of women and underrepresented communities in music.

This one-hour program will feature a wide variety of Seraph’s favorite works, from beloved classics to their very own new commissions, showcasing the ensemble’s versatility and joy in performing together. After the concert, we hope you’ll stay for a reception and meet-and-greet with the members of Seraph Brass.

With your generosity, Seraph Brass can continue creating meaningful opportunities in music for all - on stage, in classrooms, and in communities around the world. 4PM this Sunday!

11/14/2025

Save the Date for Imminence Festival April 16-18, 2026!

The Improvised Music Series curator team is planning their first festival here at Elastic Arts! The three-day event will highlight the incredible creative music community we have here in Chicago with performances and workshops. Please mark your calendar as we absolutely know you won’t want to miss this special weekend of music. Can’t wait for you to see the lineup - it’s amazing. Stay tuned!

The festival is made possible by support from the Illinois Arts Council

11/14/2025

Monday’s Pleiades Series serves as a record release celebration for Amanda Kraus’ project Soft Five! We’ll also hear from abstract voice/electronics composer Paige Alice Naylor. It will be a very special Monday night!

Soft Five is the solo project of Chicago drummer and sound artist Amanda Kraus. Born out of a desire to explore rhythm, texture, and atmosphere, Soft Five uses drums, gongs, synthesizers and bass to build on layered textures oscillating between minimalism, building tension and rhythmic momentum. Drawing from minimalism, horror soundtracks, and electroacoustic improvisation, Soft Five’s music invites listeners to experience percussion as both texture and tone. Proceeds from the new album DOMESTICATA support local organizations including Resilience Chicago and the Greater Chicago Food Depository, extending the project’s sense of care beyond the studio.

Paige Alice Naylor is a Chicago-based experimental vocalist, sound artist and educator. Through sound-making and performance, she investigates time, perception, the breakdown of language, and themes of death through electronically processed voice, multichannel sound installation, hardware electronics, tape loops, handmade electronics, and samplers. Her direct and interpersonal approach creates live sonic environments which feel vulnerable and intimate.

Music at 8pm.

11/12/2025

The CLEAT Series returns this Friday with two solo performances of spatial audio w/ V. Vecker and Brady Matteson.

V. Vecker aka Keith Wecker is a composer, improvisor, and multi-instrumentalist using technology to explore the timbral and temporal properties of granular synthesis in the creation of electroacoustic music. Keith puts a focus on bringing the in-between sounds to the forefront through a layering intensive process, creating rich sonic textures that evoke a meditative sonic environment for the listener to immerse themselves in.

Brady Matteson is an experimental ambient composer that has been producing music since 2017. Performing an entirely new collection of material for the very first time, Matteson will be bringing listeners into an immersive sonic world unique to anything he has presented previously.

We look forward to hearing what these two artists bring to the CLEAT system. Music at 8pm! FRIDAY!

11/11/2025

It’s another incredibly busy week here at Elastic Arts! Come stay warm with us here and enjoy some sounds!

Stop by tonight for a free multichannel audio workshop with Kate In! 7:30pm!

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 11 | 7:30 PM
$FREE$
Making Multichannel Music w/ Kate In

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13 | 8:30 PM
Improvised Music Series: Harris/Kwan/Udoh/Wilkerson, Jr. (Alter Ego Plus), LuFuki: Meditations

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14 | 8:00 PM
CLEAT Series: V. Vecker, Brady Matteson

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 15 | 8:00 PM
Dark Matter Series: Indigo Sessions

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16 | 4:00 PM
Seraph Brass: The Road Ahead Fundraiser

MONDAY NOVEMBER 17 | 8:00 PM
Pleiades Series: Soft Five (Album Release!), Paige Alice Naylor

11/11/2025

Join us this for Thursday’s excellent Improvised Music Series! LuFuki’s Meditations Ensemble (Detroit) was put together to encourage audience contemplation through sound using the powerful messages of improvisation. The ensemble will feature special guests Chad Khouri and Airon Azure for this Chicago visit.
Alter Ego is an experimental duo consisting of pianists Mabel Kwan and Sharon Udoh. Tonight, they’ll be joined by drummer/percussionist Bill Harris and saxophonist/clarinetist Edward Wilkerson, Jr. to form Alter Ego Plus. Music at 8:30pm!

11/10/2025

In conjunction with Experimental Sound Studio and the CLEAT Series we continue our series of FREE artist-led introduction workshops exploring spatial audio.

This Tuesday at 7:30pm we feature Kate In! Kate is a multimedia artist and educator based in Chicago, primarily working in sound. Her work involves experimentation with sound technologies, sound design for documentaries, animations, and celluloid films, electroacoustic music composition, and participatory, non-hierarchical collaboration. She holds an MA in Sound Arts and Industries from Northwestern University and is an engineer and studio manager at Experimental Sound Studio, a non-profit dedicated to the creative exploration of sound.

The workshops are approximately 2 hours and will begin with a demonstration and discussion of each individual artist’s approach to multichannel sound. In the second half of the workshops, participants will have an opportunity to experiment with multichannel sound techniques on the 16-channel CLEAT system installed at Elastic.

No prior experience with multichannel sound necessary! You will need to bring your own laptop to actively participate in the second half of each workshop, however you are also welcome to simply listen and observe without a laptop.

The workshops are FREE but space is limited. Come to one, or come to all! 7:30pm!

11/09/2025

Tonight is Day 3 of the 30th Chicago Asian American Jazz Fest and we have a full lineup of three sets featuring Chien-An Yuan & All Things Shining, Kioto Aoki, Haruhi Kobayashi, Mai Sugimoto, and Takashi Swallow.

Takashi Shallow is a socially specific artist whose experiments test notions of medium and taxonomy. His ongoing projects include operating the label Gesamt, organizing Percent–a collective of mixed-race artists–and independently publishing Insider Art, a series of provocations. Shallow’s transdisciplinary practice lends him to have taught across departments including art, theater, media, design, education, and music. He is a lecturer at the University of Chicago where he has introduced new topics to the curriculum including video game sound production, experimental DJing, and multimedia fashion design.

All Things Shining is an experimental improvisational quartet exploring the communal connections that bind people across all communities in times of conflict. Featuring Marcus Elliot, Jon Monteverde, Chace Morris, and Chien-An Yuan.

Collaborators Kioto Aoki, Haruhi Kobayashi and Mai Sugimoto release their new album miminari, out from Asian Improv Records in conjunction with the 30th anniversary celebrations of the Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival (CAAJF). Meaning a “ringing in the ears” in Japanese, the miminari album reorients sensations of miminari towards playful soundscapes with interwoven layers of saxophone, taiko, electronics and vocals. The trio’s bilingual, multicultural experiences are reflected in the titles of the songs, which offer both phonetic and descriptive word play. Their backgrounds in traditional folk, jazz, and electronic sounds coalesce into a unique dialogue grounded in experimental improvisation.

7:30 - Takashi Shallow
8:30 - Chien-an Yuan and All Things Shining (Marcus Elliot, Jon Monteverde, Chace Morris)
9:30 - Kioto Aoki, Haruhi Kobayashi and Mai Sugimoto

Elastic Arts

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