May 5, 2025, 8pm, $10
Join us for an evening of raucous and unusual, sometimes freely improvised, musics, featuring Joel Nelson on solo electronics, Eudomorphidon: the duo of Dan Plonsey (winds) & Mathew Welch (bagpipes), and two trios: LTD Time (Shao Way Wu, John Niekrasz & Allie Hankins), and Aurora, Joel, Anthony (two vocal and one electronics: Aurora Josephson, Joel Nelson, Anthony Stilabower).
Eudimorhpodon - is an early pterosaur AND a new duo with Dan Plonsey (saxophones) and Matthew Welch (bagpipes). Featuring compositions and improvisations by both for this unique combination of reeds, Plonsey and Welch dig deep into their love for odd creatures and characters to summon forth wild sonic beasts of imagination.
Joel Nelson - An all new solo electronic set that is based around the interaction of Strega with itself. I will be taking all the rhythmic elements that are hidden inside the instrument and expressing them through a cut-up method that will drive the music and create opportunities for improvisation.
LTD Time - a new pdx trio made up of Shao Way Wu, John Niekrasz, and Allie Hankings
Aurora, Joel, Anthony - Another new trio that will explore the relationship of vocals and electronics through open improvisation.
Join us for Neolith, Orchid Tooth, Joel Nelson & Vastique, May 8th, 2025,
Neolith - an artist engaging with ceramics, sound, moving image, and sculptural installation as challenges to stagnance, fear, and disconnection. Their work makes an attempt at dissolving perceived boundaries between our physical, spiritual, and emotional realities.
Orchid Tooth-Sometime in 2018, I was heavy into videography and was working on a few music videos for an old friend, Sudie. She’s an incredibly talented vocalist and musician (everyone should check her out : @sudiemusic ) and I always had an interest in demystifying the world of music for myself. I ended up taking voice, piano, and production lessons with her and in exchange I would do photo shoots and music videos for her. It was a really lovely introduction into what has blossomed now and after several years of experimentation, I began to find a voice and sound of my own.
Joel Nelson - An all new solo electronic set that is based around the interaction of Strega with itself. I will be taking all the rhythmic elements that are hidden inside the instrument and expressing them through a cut-up method that will drive the music and create opportunities for improvisation.
Vastique - A new duo between Sam Klapper and Caspar Sonnet. Best described as, a violin, objects, and a single table
Monday, May 12th, 2025, 6:30pm
our monthly poetry workshop “Petichor’s Child; Within and the Written,” with Diane Corson, at PAC: 122 NW Couch Street, PDX
Petrichor is a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after warm, dry weather. Petrichor has to have the right events to create a specific moment, as the mind needs the right sort of events to sort out a poem. This workshop creates an atmosphere for poetry as an experience. Workshop Meets second Monday of every month
May 14, 2025, 8pm, $10: Adam Lion, Ben Cohen Chen, Enjoy Listening and SH
Adam Lion - Offering “a tone so pure it is almost a sine-wave” (The Wire), Adam Lion is a percussionist dedicated to performing experimental music. Interests that guide his work include improvisation, perception, acoustics, repetition, surprise and coincidence. Based in Los Angeles his work has been featured in The New York Times, Pitchfork Media, Artforum Magazine, and Bandcamp Daily .
Ben Cohen Chen - Solo Saxophone
SH - A duo from Francisco Botello and Zach Rowe
Enjoy Listening
Ken Paine Trio, May 16, 2025, 8pm, $10: Please join us for an exciting evening of original improvised music. We will be playing selections from our upcoming new release and our previous two albums. Dan and I have worked together for over 40 years and with the addition of our bassist Joe, the new trio was complete.
Join us for guided improvisation, and Joel Nelson’s conducted Improvisation Orchestra, May 22nd, 2025, 8pm, free and open to the public:
bring your instruments!
FIC Night at PDX Arts Collective
FIC (Free Improvised Collective) is an ongoing performance series hosted at the PDX Arts Collective, exploring real-time musical interaction and collective creation. Rooted in conducted improvisation, FIC Night brings together musicians to test and refine new strategies for collaboration through live performance.
Each event centers on the individual performer and their relationship to the group, offering a space for growth, experimentation, and spontaneous connection. What began as a loosely formed ensemble has now found its official home—join us as we continue to evolve this unique, ever-changing experience.
Following our 2nd Annual Butoh Festival, in case you did not catch any of the festival: come to Butoh Movie Night on Sunday May 25th at 8pm.