a weekly new music and experimental sound series every sunday
presented by new performance traditions and sfSound

 

dresher ensemble studio :: 2201 poplar street, oakland california

ample parking! please park perpendicular when past the trees on poplar
$10-$25 sliding scale (cash & venmo accepted at door - order advance here)
 

concerts start promptly at 7:15
:: late arrivals follow instructions on door to get buzzed in ::

 

previous concerts

 

submit a proposal to perform!

June 1 2025  7:15pm

Described by the Guardian as “filled with a wild, distorted energy,” and by The Wire as “rare and rewarding,” the music of bassist, composer and experimental bagpiper MAT MUNTZ imbues the volatile and the bizarre with an expressive, human immediacy. Since arriving in Berkeley in 2022, Mat has formed collaborations with great musicians from across the Bay Area. This trio with saxophonist KASEY KNUDSEN and drummer SCOTT AMENDOLA is one such project, highlighting the compositions of all three players in a highly flexible, dynamic, and reactive context.

 

 

MATIAS E.A. is a sound and visual artist from Oakland specializing in long form free improvisation, primarily using electric guitar to translate and magnify tactile gesture. Their music explores extreme density and dynamics, intersections of timbre and pitch, generative rhetorical structures, and the discovery of common language through improvisation. They have played with experimental punk bands and free improv groups. Matias joins local musicians ARI BROWN (trumpet), JORDAN GLENN (percussion), and SAM LEFEBVRE (drums) for a set of improvised music.

 

 

 

June 8 2025  7:15pm

THEA FARHADIAN (violin/electronics) celebrates her recent release of Tattoos and Other Markings on Other Minds Records. The album delves into the power of memory through a rich tapestry of musical influences, blending Farhadian’s training in classical violin and electronics, achieving a sound described by critics as a "beautiful grimness." CHRIS BROWN (piano/electronics) joins in a set of improvisations as a duo and with the film Bruitage by Los Angeles based artist, HRAYR Ա EULMESSEKIAN.

 

The concert also features the OAKLAND REDUCTIONIST ORCHESTRA, a supergroup of local musicians with a predilection for lowercase/fricative/reductionist acoustic improvisation that often sounds more electronic than acoustic. This ensemble grows out of a rich tradition of "American reductionist" music that emerged (re-emerged?) in the late 1990's and early 2000's. Previous projects like Tom Djll's Grosse Abfahrt and The Jack Wright Large Ensemble Eight By Nine document the Bay Area's contribution to the genre.

 

PERFORMERS
Danishta Rivero, voice
Cody Putman, bassoon
Kanoko Nishi-Smith, koto
Lisa Mezzacappa, bass 
Kevin CK Lo, violin/flute/piano
John Ingle, saxophones
Matt Ingalls, clarinets
Ron Heglin, tuba
Diane Grubbe, flutes
Sarah Grace Graves, voice
Jacob Felix Heule, percussion
Tom Djll, trumpet
Kevin Corcoran, percussion
Chris Cooper, objects, electronics

 

PROPOSALS

Our focus is on the bay area experimental and new music community, hopefully encouraging crossover among sub-scenes (composition and improvisation; established and emerging; institutional and underground; etc.) We strongly suggest local musicians attend concerts before requesting to perform on the series. Visiting aritsts are also welcome, ideally splitting a concert with local musicians.

We are also seeking compositions (in all forms of notation) to be performed by the sfSoundGroup.

We have a 92-key (down to a Low F!) 1953 Bösendorfer 7’4” Model 225 Piano (no sostenuto pedal; inside/prepared is OK). The venue hosts a Meyer Sound System, drum kit, additional piano, lighting, and projection equipment.

Please send proposals to mattingalls@me.com

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