Catherine Sikora/David Menestres duo + Dan DeChellis/Toshi Makihara duo

Catherine Sikora & David Menestres:

Tenor and soprano saxophonist, improviser and composer Catherine Sikora was first electrified by the sound of air vibrating in a metal tube when, as a child, she heard the wind playing tones and overtones in a metal gate. She has devoted her life to researching the magic of that sound with her saxophones, particularly in her solo work, which forms the main backbone of her creative output.

Catherine’s first solo album ‘Jersey’ was released on Relative Pitch Records in July 2016. She followed this with ‘Warrior‘, an all-soprano saxophone solo recording in 2019. Her next solo tenor recording, ‘Sanctuary‘, recorded live in Paris in summer of 2020, was released in fall 2020.In addition to her solo work, Sikora works frequently in duo and larger settings, with Eric Mingus, Brian Chase, Ursel Schlicht, Ethan Winogrand, Ross Hammond, Christopher Culpo and Matteo Liberatore. She is proud to be one third of the joyful rowdiness that is Eris 136199.

David Menestres is a bassist, composer, and writer currently living in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. David is the founder/leader of the Polyorchard ensemble and is the host/producer of Tone Science, a weekly two-hour radio show on taintradio.org since 2010.

Dan DeChellis & Toshi Makihara:

A genre-defying performer, dedicated educator, and omnivorous listener, Dan DeChellis has lived his musical vision for over 40 years, leveraging strict classical training into deep-dive explorations of modern classical improvisation, free improvisation, jazz, rock, and ambient music. Beginning piano studies at age 7, Dan earned bachelors and masters degrees in piano performance from Appalachian State University and Duquesne University, then spent a year studying improvisation with Paul Bley and Ran Blake at the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC). He released more than a half-dozen solo and group recordings on his own Sachimay Records label; co-founded Brooklyn’s Improvised and Otherwise Festival; and has collaborated with musicians including drummers Tatsuya Nakatani and Gerry Hemingway, saxophonists Bhob Rainey and Jack Wright, bassists Gene Perla and Reuben Radding, and the trio Chainworks with electronics player Brian Moran and percussionist Matt Hannafin.

Toshi Makihara’s performance utilizes traditional percussion with a variety of discovered sound media, everyday objects and toys. Through a rigorous, systematic, and practiced process of experimentation, Makihara seeks out sounds that have never been heard before, experimenting with touch, force, and speed, and always remaining aware of sound’s relationship to the body. Makihara studied drums and percussion with Sabu Toyozumi, a renowned improvising percussionist in Tokyo. He has also studied butoh with dance master Kazuo Ohno and others.

venue is wheelchair accessible