Tuesday August 6 * 7pm * $10-25

Glissonic, an instrument builder in Budapest, makes a new instrument called the glissotar. As part of their loaner program, Samuel Burt will be showing off this sax-like microtonal instrument. The glissotar is shaped like a soprano saxophone, but, instead of keys and holes, it has one long slot. Pitch is controlled by a magnetic ribbon that covers the slot. The instrument is loud and bright, allowing the musician to escape the bounds of discrete pitch steps. It can slide, bounce, chirp, and warble. Audience questions are invited!

Samuel Burt (glissotar) is a composer, clarinet player, electronic musician, and instrument builder. He is an organizer of the High Zero Festival and a curator at the Red Room in Baltimore. He builds saxophones and programs software and synthesizer firmware.

Alma Laprida (trumpet marine) is a composer, improviser, performer, and installation builder who plays trumpet marine, field recordings, and synthesizers. Her work has appeared in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Italy, Mexico, and the United States. She plays in Hypnotized Chickens, the Bureau of Sensory Affairs, and has a duo with Mike Kuhl.

Paul Neidhardt (percussion) is a Maryland percussionist, drum instructor, and dance accompanist. He plays in the percussion ensemble Umbilicus and hosts the monthly Volunteers' Collective improvisation workshop at the Red Room. He is an organizer of the High Zero Festival and a curator at the Red Room in Baltimore.

Shelly Purdy (percussion) is a contemporary musician and teaching artist in Maryland. She performs in Umbilicus, the Inverse Square Trio, and the Compositions. She is an organizer of the High Zero Festival and a curator at the Red Room in Baltimore.
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The discography of the vocalist, pianist and composer Judith Berkson gives a hint to her range. Her 2010 album, “Oylam,” on ECM Records, featured Yiddish folk songs and excerpts from Schubert’s “Winterreise,” as well as original pieces. Since then, she has also contributed vocals to some searing and complex albums by the drummer Dan Weiss.

Berkson’s latest album — “Liederkreis II,” released by the Notice imprint in May — provides another look at her adaptive intelligence, as she leans more aggressively into electronic instrumentation (and manipulation).

Schubert’s influence is felt, once again. Though this time, with “Der Doppelgänger,” Berkson grafts some moody synths to her beaming, trancelike vocal performance. The result hits as if it were a rendition of the canonical track reconfigured for some club in a David Lynch film. The rest of the album balances that songful quality with edgier, percussive experiments (as on pieces like “NeuDeux” and “Bundt”).
-NYTimes
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As a composer, flutist, and improviser, Rachel Beetz explores presence through sound and listening. Her works recreate physical atmospheres based on her deep listening adventures in the wild, exploring hidden worlds of nature and machines. Combining experimental field recordings and electronically modified flutes, her works examine community, environmentalism, and women’s work through sound, textiles, and lighting. Her projects have been featured in concert halls and galleries in Australia, Iceland, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. You can hear her on Orenda, Blue Griffin, iikki, Neuma, and Populist record labels. She is currently a co-director of the Wasteland Music and Populist Records.