tune in to elastic arts!

The Improvised Music Series kicks off 2026 with an invitation to our community of music makers! Following an opening set by the evening’s ‘house band’, a heavy-hitting quartet lead by trombonist Dan Merlo, we’ll put together rotating small sets of performers to get new sounds and connections going in the new year.

At our first CLEAT Series of 2026 welcome solo cello/electronics artist Lia Kohl to the system for the first time, along with the return of Big Pal in collaboration with The Little Streams and series curator Stephan Moore.

We’re excited for this first time collaboration between the experimental pop band Big Pal, dance company The Little Streams, and electronic improviser Stephan Moore, who are creating multichannel and multimedia piece featuring choreography and music sequenced by card game mechanics.

Lia Kohl is no stranger to Elastic Arts, but we’re excited for her to finally bring her special blend of abstract electronics, cello, and voice to the 16 channel CLEAT system.

Our first Elastro series of the year features the visiting duo of Andrea Parkins + Eliad Wagner, and a solo performance from Anne Liao. Andrea Parkins' and Eliad Wagner’s electroacoustic duo tumbles through a thicket of sonic densities, fusing sounding objects — a sliver of stone, a bell on a string, a spring in a chamber — with electronic tones, rhythms, and noise. The artists focus on gesture as a foundation for composition and improvisation — shaping their music through haptic interaction, careful listening, and the spontaneous "invention of instruments" through playful engagement with their materials. Join us Saturday January 10th!

Like an ecstatic game of telephone gone haywire, Noa Micaela Fields’ debut book E (Nightboat Books) practices mishearing as a glitchy hormonal transition of language. Join us for the book launch ritual of enjambment as embodiment as escape art: an evening of ethereal remixes, multimedia performances by collaborators, and euphoric dancing in the naughty clairvoyant loading zone. 

Regina Martinez sets the tone during a selective listening hour, followed by live performances by Maya Nguyen, Ruby Que, Noa Micaela Fields, and Barbiefoot. Stick around for a dance party with DJs girly*** and relaxxX. As Vaginal Davis decrees, “E is for epic!” 

Welcome to 2026! There’s a TON in store for Pleiades Series in 2026 (including a heavy rocking edition on January 30th.) But first, we jam.

Tonight’s the night for all femme/trans/non-binary artists to join us at Elastic and participate in an all-night jam session! We’ll get your name on a list and decide upon small ensembles on the spot. You can sign up by emailing pleiades@elasticarts.org or just show up. All levels of musicianship welcome! We can’t wait to see you for the 4th Annual JAN JAM!

Unaccompanied solo upright bass courtesy of the wonderful Tyler Wagner followed by an electro-acoustic trio of guitar/laptop, violin, and bass.

Two trios (almost alike in instrumentation), bringing unique sensibilities at the edges of jazz: loose compositions and tight improvisations by Fred Jackson Paul Giallorenzo and Bill Harris, and the Indo-Jazz fusion of the Amarkalam Project.

An evening of serious play at the Improvised Music Series: vocalists Gabrielle Lochard and Julian Otis present an in-progress experimental opera project synthesizing improvisation, jazz, folk, children's songs, and spirituals; Adam Shead’s microplastique celebrates the release of its second album “Many Roads,” turning multi-instrumentalism and everything including the kitchen sink into introspective presence and a whimsical embrace of the avant-garde.

Join us for a night of decibels and thrashing(trashing) to kick off our Pleiades Series curation in 2026 with Shrift and Trash.com!

Shrift unites the bass guitar of toxic nerd Jill Lloyd Flanagan, the vocals of local funnyman Carly Wicks, smooth sax by the large-mitted Sonia Monet and the solidly punishing beats of museum replicator Janice Lim.

Trash.com is Hedra Rowan, Alex Maerbach and Linda Sherman. Self proclaimed ‘Jock Jams for Ham Hocks’

Come for a wild time! There will be no open jam this evening, but do come out for our annual Jan Jam on January 12th!

We’re excited to host an evening with two of Chicago’s finest songwriters with their respective ensembles, Lindsay Anderson and Angela James!