Pete Swanson – Much anticipated solo performance by the sonic dervish formerly of Yellow Swans.

– Golden Retriever – Serious synth and effected bass clarinet tripscapes. Cinematic, strange, and smart. Jonathan Sielaff (bass clarinet) and Matt Carlson (synth).

– Thicket – Caustic, mercurial, and intuitive improvisations by members of Dragging an Ox through Water, Why I Must Be Careful, and Fly!Fly!Fly!Fly!Fly! Brian Mumford (guitar), Ben Kates (reed guitar), and John Niekrasz (drums).

– Rich Halley Trio – Tight, eloquent avant-jazz by Portland’s finest. Rich Halley (sax), Andre St.James (bass), Carson Halley (drums). Rich is a fantastic saxophonist and founded the Creative Music Guild in 1991. Andre and Carson make for a blistering rhythm section.

– The Creative Composers’ Collective of Portland will debut two new ecstatic compositions by Heather Vergotis and Ursula Morton. Performers include stalwarts of Portland’s avant music scene: Mark Kaylor, Gregg Skloff, JP Jenkins, Ryan Steuwe, Alyssa Reed, Todd Dickerson, Heather Vergotis, and Ursula Morton

.- Deep Leap Microcinema deftly combines live performance and contemporary video art.

Here it is everyone: The second iteration of our festival. This is two days of experimental music, dance and film on May 31 & June 1 at Sandbox Studio. Check out the schedule below.

Improvisation Summit of Portland 2013

Friday, May 31 & Saturday, June 1
Sandbox Studios: 420 NE 9th ave
$12-$18 sigle day, $20-$40 both days: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/382722

All ages

Friday, May 31:
6:00 – Experimental Film Festival PDX: “Bridge” & “C.A.G.E”
“Bridge” by Kevin T. Allen 11 mins NY – A study of three similar but distinct microcultures: the Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn Bridgeand Williamsburg Bridge. Interrogated through the use of contact microphones, the physical infrastructures of these bridges become audible and reveal their inherent macroacoustics.
“C.A.G.E” by Richard Evans 20 mins NY – C.A.G.E. is a fictional documentary about ‘Variations on a Plain Index’ a 1945 sound work by an unnamed experimental composer. It is a subtle and philosophical story about an artist’s relationship to environment and how component elements of an artwork can represent subjective states of mind.
6:35 – Jen Hackworth/Heather Treadway
6:45 – John Gross Trio
7:20 – Linda Austin and Gregg Bielemeier/Ken Ollis
7:35 – Grammies
8:10 – Eet
8:30 – Daniel Menche
9:00 -Taka Yamamoto/Lisa Schonberg
9:10 – William Hooker
9:40 – Gulls
10:00 – WIMBC Big Band (with Ryan Spangler, Ben Kates, Stephanie Simek, Carson McWhirter, Russel Durham)
10:40 – Dawn Stoppiello/Thollem Mcdonas
10:55 – HITS
11:30 Elphin Elephant

Saturday June 1:
11:00 – William Hooker drum workshop (at Revival Drum Shop)
3:00 – Composition Through/With Improvisation moderated by Daniel Flessas from KBOO w/ John Niekrasz, Rich Halley, Reed Wallsmith, Linda Austin, Catherine Lee
4:30 – Wavemakers (presented by Cinema Project)
Hearing unusual interferences coming from radio vacuum tubes one night during World War I, the French musician and educator Maurice Martenot dreamed of an instrument that would turn the new material of the times, electricity, into music, but electronic music with a distinctive human touch. — Caroline Martel
From this idea came the 1928 invention, the ondes Martenot (onde meaning wave in French). While many may have heard its distinctive sound in sci-fi TV shows like The Thunderbirds, Hollywood classics such as Lawrence of Arabia, and in recent soundtracks like There Will be Blood, the instrument itself has rarely been seen. In her most recent feature length documentary, Canadian filmmaker Caroline Martel takes a slightly experimental approach to bring the history and image of this “sensual and sophisticated instrument” into view. Caroline will be in attendance to talk more about the ondes and her journey to discover it.
7:00 – Doug Theriault & Juniana Lanning
7:40 – Jim McGinn and Tere Mathern/Ben Kates, John Savage and Catherine Lee
8:00 – Battle Hymns and Gardens
8:45 – Noelle Stiles/Marisa Anderson and Rich Halley
9:00 – 1939 Ensemble
9:30 – Danielle Ross/John Niekrasz
9:45 – Like a Villain
10:15 – Tracy Broyles/Loren Chasse
10:30 – William Hooker Ensemble (with Lee Elderton, Mary Sutton, Thollem McDonas, John Niekrasz, Andrew Jones, John Gross, Kyleen King)
11:30 – Golden Retriever

Sponsored by Sandbox Studio, Beacon Sound, Stumptown Coffee and The Map Room Studio.

Thanks to: RACC & The Miller Foundation

Thanks to our Indiegogo Donators:

Arto LeStrange
Leah Wilmoth
Dan Bryant
Benjamin Spees
Danielle Parks
Robert Philliops
Marisa Debowsky
Shirley Rillera
Fletcher Nemeth
Heather MacKenzie
Mia Ferm

Edward Sharp

Benjamin Kates
Alyssa Reed-Stuewe
Matthew Doyle
Adam Triplett
Michelle Citrin
Ben Poliakoff
Jin Camou
Tanya Smith
Joshua Powell
Bob Priest
Adam Triplett
Helena Schniewind
Michael McManus
John Niekrasz
Anonymous

Buy Tickets ahead time for guaranteed entry!