On the evening of Friday, April 3rd, we are thrilled and delighted to feature the duo of composer Matt Sargent (NY) and sound artist Dani Dobkin (NYC), composer/improviser/multi-instrumentalist Shoko Nagai (NYC), experimental electronic musician Adam Crawley’s solo project crawlinggiants (IN), and experimental electronic musicians David Reed and Ty Owen’s duo project Fatal Gaze (CMH). Doors 7:30pm, show begins at 8:00pm sharp. $10.00 prepaid, $15 at the door.
Supporters of our 2025-2026 season include the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the Ohio Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Columbus Foundation.
About the artists:
Matt Sargent is a composer, guitarist, recording engineer, and music technology specialist based in upstate New York, where he is an assistant professor of music at Bard College. His music grows from resonance, memory, the making/breaking of patterns, and computer models of musical thought. Working between the concert stage, the recording studio, and the code box, Sargent’s audio technology has been called “a veritable fountain of intensifying, kaleidoscopic spumes” (Peter Margasak, Bandcamp). Over the last decade, his work has focused extensively on musical algorithms and real-time notation systems, which can be heard in his compositions and technical collaborations with other artists.
Dani Dobkin is a sound artist, composer, and educator based in New York City, Their work explores sound through modular synthesis, ceramics, and interdisciplinary collaborations. Their artistic practice often delves into themes of grief, decay, and ephemerality, creating immersive sonic environments that emphasize physical, kinetic, and auditory experiences. They work extensively with handmade instruments, live electronic improvisation, and sound installations.
Shoko Nagai is a versatile musical artist who improvises and performs with world-renowned musicians on piano and accordion and composes original scores for films and live performances. As a teenager in her native Japan, Nagai was trained on Yamaha’s electronic organ, the “Electone,” to perform popular music. Since moving to the U.S. from Japan and studying classical, jazz music, and compositions at Berklee, she has adapted her mastery of the keyboard to prepared piano, accordions, and other keyboard instruments, often inspired by the minimalist approach of composer Toru Takemitsu. Whether she is performing Klezmer, Balkan or experimental music, Nagai is a charismatic presence onstage, who hypnotizes audiences with her intense focus and virtuoso sound.
Adam Crawley (crawlinggiants) is a composer, performer, dance accompanist, educator, and instrument builder from Muncie, IN, where on faculty at Ball State University in the Department of Theatre and Dance. Crawley works extensively in music for dance including the American Dance Festival and Bates Dance Festival as well as composing and performing for choreographers and improvisors in many settings. crawlinggiants is focused around but not limited to creating music with modular systems built by hand by Crawley, who has always enjoyed building and modifying musical instruments and using any objects at hand to produce sound.
David Reed and Ty Owen combine analog synthesis and computer based sound manipulations as Fatal Gaze, projecting an enveloping field of dark lingering gloom inspired by horror films, music concrete, and the anxiety of the modern world.