sfSoundSeries

WEST
OAKLAND
SOUND
SERIES
 

UPCOMING

 

SUN JUNE 28 - KOLE GALBRAITH (seattle) / THEISE + O'KANE + VIEGUT / ROBLES + BECKMAN + BICKLEY
SUN JULY 19- THE SKY IS A SUITCASE (seattle) / JAKOB PEK + RAFFI GARABEDIAN
SUN JULY 26 - FF (SHARKIFACE + AVA KOOHBOR) / CHRIS EVERINGHAM / KIMIA KOOCHAKZADEH-YAZDI 
SUN AUG 2 - NW EXPERIMENTAL GUITAR ORCHESTRA (seattle) / LORIN BENEDICT + CASEY TESSIER
SUN AUG 9 - WEST OAKLAND TAPE MUSIC FESTIVAL
SUN AUG 16 - NATHAN CLEVENGER / FORNAX LINTEUM

 

a weekly new music and experimental sound series every sunday
presented by new performance traditions and sfSound

 

 

DRESHER ENSEMBLE STUDIO

2201 poplar street :: oakland california

 

ample parking! please park perpendicular when past the trees on poplar
$20 (FREE for students/seniors/underemployed)

 cash & venmo accepted at door - order advance here
 

concerts start promptly at 7:15
:: late arrivals follow instructions on door to get buzzed in ::

 

submit a proposal to perform!

 

view previous concerts

June 28 2026  7:15pm

$20 click here to purchase advance tickets online

(FREE for students/seniors/underemployed)

KOLE GALBRAITH is a multi-disciplinary artist who focuses on sound, audio-visual, and found-object installation. Based in Seattle, Washington, Kole Galbraith has been active in the underground experimental music community for the past decade performing throughout the West Coast of the United States and Europe. Sonically his sonic studio compositions are informed by early 20th century French musique-concrète, metal, jazz and contemporary composition. Thematically, the compositions are influenced by interior Salish folklore, and contemporary indigenous experience. Galbraith mixes using materials found in nature with electronic techniques to uncover both latent sonic capabilities and to uncover latent histories.

 

 

ERIC THEISE'S set of cartographic works includes the West Coast premiere of his collaboration with composer SHAHRZAD TALEBI (a piece commissioned for the inaugural season of dadageek's Contemporary Art & Sound Technologies, played here by percussionists SUKI O'KANE and GRAHAM VIEGUT), a performance of A Synesthete's Atlas with pianist CHRISTOPHER HARTO, and a solo work for optical sound.



Unseen Stream: a 30 minute performance of JAIME ROBLES'S poem, Unseen Stream, with video by Jaime Robles, music by NANCY BECKMAN (shakuhachi, ocarina, voice), TOM BICKLEY (EWI/electronics, voice), and JAIME ROBLES (voice and percussion). The video projection is fixed media of water in various streams, with some text from the poem. The performance is enclosed in a soundscape of processed sounds of water flowing and footsteps on dry leaves. The music is improvised, with the text sung and interludes of instrumental music between sections of the poem.

July 19 2026  7:15pm

$20 click here to purchase advance tickets online

(FREE for students/seniors/underemployed)

THE SKY IS A SUITCASE is a melodic free jazz group formed in 2014 in Seattle, Wa by Mike Gebhart, Ray Larsen, Carmen Quill and Levi Gillis. They have released 2 records The Sky Is A Suitcase (2016), and Rain Rhythm (2018). El Jardin, their newest record, out this July, blends studio recordings with choice live tracks for an immersive album experience. While clearly influenced by a large amount of the Jazz pantheon (Ornette Coleman, Paul Motian, Keith Jarrett Quartet… to name a few) they have developed a unique sound of their own, favoring collective improvisation/expression over soloistic statements, and clear melody over flashy pyrotechnics. They are a band that invites listeners to slow down and tune in. Tonight they are playing as a trio: MIKE GEBHART, drums; LEVI GILLIS, saxophones; and CARMEN QUILL,  bass.

 

 

JAKOB PEK is a guitarist, composer, improviser, and educator whose work explores the intersections of sound, perception, and spontaneous creation. Drawing from a wide range of musical and contemplative traditions, he creates performances rooted in deep listening, expressive freedom, and a spirit of discovery. Each performance unfolds as a unique encounter with the possibilities of the present moment.
  

RAFFI GARABEDIAN is a tenor saxophonist and composer living in Oakland, California. A dedicated improvisationalist, Garabedian centers spontaneous composition as the foundation to explore new rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic cycles.



 

July 26 2026  7:15pm

$20 click here to purchase advance tickets online

(FREE for students/seniors/underemployed)

FF (SHARKIFACE + AVA KOOHBOR)
KIMIA KOOCHAKZADEH-YAZDI
CHRIS EVERINGHAM

Iranian composer and performer KIMIA KOOCHAKZADEH-YAZDI  presents In Between Spaces,  a live electronic set that moves through memories, spaces, and feelings. The piece lives in the coexistence of extremes and between shifting thresholds. Its sound world is built from synthesized and sampled Iranian instruments, field recordings, processed material from previous works, and transformed vocal sounds. It comes from sorrow, anger, and grief, but also from hope, love, and resilience. Sonically and narratively, the piece moves between edge and immersion, water and space, noise and delicacy, flow and rigidity.

 

 

Santa Cruz based composer, CHRIS EVERINGHAM presents Searching, a work that uses a just intonation sound space synthesized in MAX/MSP. The performer “searches” for JI harmonies within the sound space. Throughout Searching, the fundamental pitch of the harmonies slowly descends, creating new resonances with each change. In this piece Everingham seeks to combine his interests in just intonation with influences from the music of Morton Feldman, the drone-metal band Sunn O))), and controlled improvisation. Searching is an evolving piece of music that changes with each new performance.



 

PROPOSALS

Our focus is on the bay area experimental and new music community, hopefully encouraging crossover among sub-scenes (composition and improvisation; established and emerging; institutional and underground; etc.) We strongly suggest local musicians attend concerts before requesting to perform on the series. Visiting aritsts are also welcome, ideally splitting a concert with local musicians.

We are also seeking compositions (in all forms of notation) to be performed by the sfSoundGroup.

We have a 92-key (down to a Low F!) 1953 Imperial Bösendorfer 7’4” Model 225 Piano (no sostenuto pedal; inside/prepared is OK). The venue hosts a Meyer Sound System, drum kit, additional piano, lighting, and projection equipment.

Please send proposals to mattingalls at me dot com

Information icon

We need your consent to load the translations

We use a third-party service to translate the website content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details in the privacy policy and accept the service to view the translations.