No one turned away for lack of funds – use code BLACKBOX2024 to reserve a free ticket and click here to make a donation of any amount.

The Sound of Space Between Us is an interdisciplinary performance connecting sound and movement through and within physical space. The program traverses a spectrum of notated scores, sonic maps and choreographic exercises by Seth Cluett, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Angélica Negrón, Morton Feldman, Dai Fujikura, and an original work by Annie Nikunen, and features choreography by Nikunen and Joelle Santiago. This program is the culminating performance of the ensemble’s 2024 BlackBox Festival, a weekend-long three-concert series of events in downtown Brooklyn. Festival ticket packages include entry to the festival opening night on Saturday, January 20 at ShapeShifter Lab, featuring works by Paul Novak, Bobby Ge, Jessica Meyer, Baldwin Giang, Yaz Lancaster, Brittany J. Green, Lucy McKnight, and Nina Shekhar, among more others. Visit blackboxensemble.org/events for full information.

This is the NYC premiere of Annie Nikunen’s “The Sound of Space Between Us” in its new arrangement for string quartet and solo violin, and the NYC premiere of this interdisciplinary project with choreographers Annie Nikunen and Joelle Santiago.

Leonard Bopp conductor
Annie Nikunen flute, dancer and choreographer
Joelle Antonia Santiago choreographer
Peter Cheng dancer
Liana Zhen-ai dancer
Tyler Neidermayer clarinet and electronics
Clara Kim violin
Lauren Conroy violin
Dudley Raine IV viola
Jordan Bartow cello
Yifei Xu piano
j Clancy percussion
Amber Evans soprano

A livestream will be available free of charge at 8pm on the day of the performance and archived for future viewing. Watch below or on YouTube.

The BlackBox Ensemble is a collective of young contemporary music performers based in New York City dedicated to exploring the experimental boundaries of the music of our time through projects that are innovative, impactful, and resonant with our contemporary moment. Founded in 2018, out 2023-2024 season is out most ambitious to date, with major performances in New York City and beyond, including touring engagements in Washington, DC, Florida, Michigan, and throughout the Northeast. Their season began in September with The Sound of Space Between Us, a site-specific, outdoor music and dance performance at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. In November, they present the live premiere of Borrowed Landscape, a radio play by German playwright duo tauchgold with music by Dai Fujikura, at the Noguchi Museum, in a program that also featured music by Anna Thorvaldsdottir, inti figgis-vizueta, and Toru Takemistu. In addition to this program, their spring season includes performances of a new multi-media work about bird migration and ornithological conservation by the Consonance Composers Collective, as well as a reprise performance of Borrowed Landscape at the Smithsonian Institute of Asian Art. Previous engagements include residencies at the University of Florida, New York University, and Williams College I/O Festival. The ensemble was a recipient of the 2022 Chamber Music America Ensemble Forward Award, through which they were coached and mentored by Alan Pierson. Learn more at blackboxensemble.org.