Experimental Sound Studio

Experimental Sound Studio ESS is a non-profit, artist-run organization focused on sound in all its exploratory cultural manifes November is Membership Month!

Join at https://ess.org/donate. Experimental Sound Studio is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization dedicated to artistic evolution and the creative exploration of sound. As an international hub for sonic experimentation, ESS nurtures artists, heralds new works, and builds a broad, supportive community of makers, enthusiasts, and creative partners through preservation, production, presentation, and education.

Another great addition to the Creative Audio Archive.Check out the short documentary by Scrappers Film Group capturing t...
09/05/2025

Another great addition to the Creative Audio Archive.

Check out the short documentary by Scrappers Film Group capturing the genesis and organic rise of the fabled Quarantine Concerts.

Link in bio.

ESS was at the right place at a hard time. We helped facilitate and broadcast discrete home performances by a global network of over 2000 artists.

Unprecedented and uncertain times breed new ideas. The Quarantine Concerts were that and more. We’re still feeling the ripples. For many, TQC put Experimental Sound Studio on the map.

We’re thankful to the performers and fans who made The Quarantine Concerts so special. If you missed them, this is a great place to start.

Director and Editor: Brian Ashby.
Pictured: Aaron Dilloway

This short work was presented in collaboration with The Wire.


The Creative Audio Archive is a living and breathing resource documenting historical advances in experimental music and ...
09/04/2025

The Creative Audio Archive is a living and breathing resource documenting historical advances in experimental music and contemporary practitioners bending our ears today.

In addition to notable collections from Sun Ra/El Saturn, Malachi Ritscher, Studio Henry, and Links Hall (+ many more), ESS archives many of our own productions in the CAA.

We’re happy to add our 2024 OPTION series to the collection. Polished and trimmed from a series of captivating outdoor (mostly) concerts in ESS’s iconic ivy-covered garden, our flagship concert series presents an eclectic cohort of today’s shape shifters. Archive entries feature the performances and the artist interviews that follow.

Explore the ESS Collection today at ess.org!
New additions to the CAA are uploaded weekly.

2024 OPTION artists:
Luke Stewart & Joshua Abrams
Dorothy Carlos
Jake Meginsky
Nick Dunston
FLUTTER
Brandon Seabrook
John Yau
Kim Alpert & claire rousay
Brittany Karlson
Chris Williams & Trae Crudup
Dave Rempis, Joshua Abrams, & Tomeka Reid

2024 OPTION curators:
Ken Vandermark
Andrew Clinkman
Lily Finnegan

Pictured: performances from Chris Williams & Trae Crudup and Kim Alpert & clair rousay






dunston






g.finn

ESS and Ear Taxi Festival () are pleased to announce a very special exhibition opening this month at Audible Gallery.“So...
09/03/2025

ESS and Ear Taxi Festival () are pleased to announce a very special exhibition opening this month at Audible Gallery.

“Sonic Speculations in the Documents of Postwar Japanese Art,” a collaborative exhibition by scholar Kaneko Tomotaro and ESS co-founder Lou Mallozzi, introduces a sound world little known outside Japan—Japanese artists working with sound in galleries and public spaces to interrogate artistic practice and social relations during the cultural and political upheavals of postwar Japan from the 1950s to 1970s.
The radical artistic output of this period occurred in the complex context of Japan’s postwar economic boom, the failure of its student uprisings, the Mono-ha movement, Expo ‘70, and numerous other factors. It is a period that remains virtually unexplored outside Japan, one that offers much to an increasingly global perspective in the field of the sonic arts.

Both Kaneko and Mallozzi will be present in support of the exhibition across a series of events.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity for reflection and cultural exchange.

Experimental Sound Studio and Ear Taxi Festival () are pleased to announce a very special exhibition opening this month ...
09/03/2025

Experimental Sound Studio and Ear Taxi Festival () are pleased to announce a very special exhibition opening this month at Audible Gallery.

“Sonic Speculations in the Documents of Postwar Japanese Art,” a collaborative exhibition by scholar Koneko Tomotaro and ESS co-founder Lou Mallozzi, introduces a sound world little known outside Japan—Japanese artists working with sound in galleries and public spaces to interrogate artistic practice and social relations during the cultural and political upheavals of postwar Japan from the 1950s to 1970s.

The radical artistic output of this period occurred in the complex context of Japan’s postwar economic boom, the failure of its student uprisings, the Mono-ha movement, Expo ‘70, and numerous other factors. It is a period that remains virtually unexplored outside Japan, one that offers much to an increasingly global perspective in the field of the sonic arts.

Both Koneko and Mallozzi will be present in support of the exhibition across a series of events.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity for reflection and cultural exchange.

The 2025 season of OPTION has come to a close. For 11 years, OPTION has served as a platform for improvised and experime...
08/29/2025

The 2025 season of OPTION has come to a close. For 11 years, OPTION has served as a platform for improvised and experimental music, sustaining a space where artists and audiences can meet, listen, and share ideas. This year’s series, curated by Dorothy Carlos, Andrew Clinkman, and Lily Finnegan, continued that legacy with concerts and conversations that reflected both Chicago’s unique creative community and voices from beyond the city.

We are grateful to every artist who performed, every curator who shaped the vision, and every audience member who joined us in the garden and the studio.

OPTION is organized by Experimental Sound Studio, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting artists working with sound. Your attendance, donations, and engagement keep this work alive.

Support helps ensure we can continue presenting new voices, sustaining long-term projects, and making Chicago a home for adventurous sound.

Despite the fickle weather, people found so many ways to enjoy the closing of Sonic Pavilion Festival on August 18thThos...
08/27/2025

Despite the fickle weather, people found so many ways to enjoy the closing of Sonic Pavilion Festival on August 18th

Those who braved the weather were treated with a live choir welcoming the coming storm. Supporting Page Alice Naylor’s work “Currents”, the brave group held off the storm (and the security guards) just long enough to complete the piece.

Unfortunately, the program was cut short by rain and lighting. But, before all that, attendees stretched out, mingled, and basked in the 24-channel surround sound provided Jay Pritzker Pavilion’s speaker array without a worry.

In all accounts, Sonic Pavilion Festival 2025 was a success. Huge thanks to the artists, city employees, and ESS staff who made this unique and forward thinking festival a reality.

And the work lives on. A restaged (indoor) presentation of the 8 pieces is in development. Stay tuned!

2025 Sonic Pavilion Artists:

Angel Bat Dawid & Eyeisha Sistrunk
Anna Friz & Jeff Kolar
David Bird
Glenn Kotche
Myles Emmons
Paige Alice Naylor (w/ choir led by Chris Wood)
Saapato
Zouning Anne Liao

Sonic Pavilion Festival was developed by Experimental Sound Studio and presented by the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE). This event was supported by the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.

Florasonic closes August 31.This holiday weekend is your last chance to experience Laura Ortman’s “The Southwest Northea...
08/26/2025

Florasonic closes August 31.

This holiday weekend is your last chance to experience Laura Ortman’s “The Southwest Northeast Back and Forth Bows,” a multichannel sound installation at the Lincoln Park Conservatory, and the latest iteration of Florasonic.

Florasonic, our long-running collaboration with LPC and a renowned cast of artists, is a series of site-specific sound installations that continually push the boundaries of the sonic arts and contextual listening.

Ortman’s dynamic piece layers recordings of traditional Apache violin and symphonic amplified violin, blending expressive over-rosining techniques, subtle under-amplification, and nuanced phrasing to draw out the unique textures and tonal character of each instrument.

Recordings using the individual instruments are positioned in the southwest and northeast corners of the densely green space, symbolically anchoring the sounds to their origins: Apache lands in Arizona and the urban wilderness of New York City, where Ortman has lived and worked since 1997.

Do not miss this.

The 2025 Florasonic season is supported by The Paul M. Angell Foundation.

Photos: Laura Ortman’s performance at the opening reception


Join us online Today at 3pm for an insightful discussion presented by Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Speci...
08/26/2025

Join us online Today at 3pm for an insightful discussion presented by Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events () and Chicago Made.

ESS Co-Director Olivia Junell, alongside representatives from some of Chicago’s most innovative arts organizations (ACRE, Uprising Theater, Arts + Public Life, and Terra Cotta Strategies), will share unique approaches for sustaining a creative practice in the city and beyond.

Olivia will be discussing Golden Egg: Retirement Resources for Chicago Musicians, a fresh initiative fiscally sponsored and supported by ESS.

Webinar link in bio.

Chicago Made supports Chicago’s creative community and directly connects emerging artists to the City of Chicago’s resources, opportunities, festivals, events and cultural programming.




In August, Hong Kong-based artist Helen Lam Hoi Yan (), our 2025 Wavefront Artist Resident, graced our Audible Gallery w...
08/22/2025

In August, Hong Kong-based artist Helen Lam Hoi Yan (), our 2025 Wavefront Artist Resident, graced our Audible Gallery with stunning exhibition, “in the folds of wave and time”, culminating her month-long residency at ESS.

The multimedia exhibition explored the traces and distortions that occur between perception and memory.

During her residency, the artist collected objects and field recordings, documented the memories of Chicago community members, and created drawings and texts. She assembled these materials, weaving individual memories, objects, and traces into a traversable installation.

The exhibition was further supported by an artist presentation exploring the fleeting moments of awareness that seep into her practice, and how light and the water refract perception.

Huge thanks to Helen for sharing their attentive practice with our community.

The Wavefront Artist Residency is a collaborative endeavor between and ESS and is now in it’s 10th year. It is funded in part by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council.

Congratulations to for 10 years of mission-driven magic. Each year, this bi-city festival brings Chicago & New Orleans-...
08/21/2025

Congratulations to for 10 years of mission-driven magic.

Each year, this bi-city festival brings Chicago & New Orleans-based musicians, movement, and visual artists together for a week of collaborative programming in each city.

This kind of pointed long-term cross pollination creates crucial networks for working artists.

Instigation Festival Chicago launches Friday, Aug 22 at .

Supporting this important initiative!

ESS is proud to be a fiscal sponsor of Instigation Festival.

Quick announcement.Due to forces beyond our control, tonight’s event with Alba Sonic Arts Resident, Sarah Lutkenhaus (),...
08/20/2025

Quick announcement.

Due to forces beyond our control, tonight’s event with Alba Sonic Arts Resident, Sarah Lutkenhaus (), and special guest Carol Genetti () has been postponed.

Sarah has spent the last several weeks exploring the Creative Audio Archive, tracing several sonic lineages to better understand Chicago.

We look forward to presenting their findings soon.

Stay tuned for the rescheduled event.

Sunday marked our final OPTION concert of the 2025 season. BCMC, the duo of Cooper Crain and Bill MacKay, brought their ...
08/19/2025

Sunday marked our final OPTION concert of the 2025 season. BCMC, the duo of Cooper Crain and Bill MacKay, brought their luscious chromatic decelerations to the garden, marking the perfect conclusion to an amazing season of concerts.

Huge thanks to BCMC for providing the sunsetting sounds and to co-curator Andrew Clinkman () for the thoughtful discussion that followed.

OPTION, ESS’s flagship performance series, strives to support and connect contemporary artists working across the spectrum of exploratory sound. The series is curated by Andrew Clinkman, Lily Finnegan, and Dorothy Carlos and is a highlight of the summer.

OPTION returns in 2026, but there is plenty of ESS activity to enjoy until then. Stay plugged in.

☀️

This event and others are supported through grassroots fundraising and foundation support. Consider supporting ESS today.

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