National Sawdust Announces Summer Labs 2019

New York, NY (August 28, 2019) — The annual Summer Labs program at National Sawdust returns for its third year this September. Alaina Ferris, Avery Leigh, and Eliot Krimsky, the winning participants for 2019, were selected from an open call for emerging and established Brooklyn-based musicians. Through the program, each artist will create, develop, and perform a 30-minute music-based work-in-progress in National Sawdust’s state-of-the-art venue. Following their performances, each artist will host a 15-minute audience Q&A to discuss their process and their new work on the National Sawdust stage.

“Summer Labs is both a miniature arts incubator and a way for National Sawdust to invest in our local artist community. The program showcases new multimedia and multidisciplinary works in development that utilize our venue's unique capabilities, provides artists with a chance to speak about their process and their work, and allows for direct mentorship from our production and technical staff,” says Nicole Merritt, Programming Director at National Sawdust. “Past program participants have gone on to do great things, including first year participant LATASHÁ Alcindor. She went on to become a National Sawdust Artist-in-Residence, toured the work she developed at National Sawdust to BAM, and most recently was a curator at the Shed.”

As part of the program, the selected participants receive seven hours of tech-supported rehearsal and development time in the venue; mentorship and producing support from National Sawdust staff; marketing support, along with having their project featured on the National Sawdust website; a complimentary multi-track recording of their work; up to three professional photos of their presentation; a video of their concert for promotional use; and access to National Sawdust’s network of world-class artists. In addition, successful projects will be considered for future programming in the venue and with our partners around the country.

Events Schedule

The following is a chronological list of Summer Labs events. For the most up-to-date event listings and times, please visit NationalSawdust.org/Calendar.

The Lydian Gale Parr
Alaina Ferris
September 16, 2019 7:30 pm
Composer Alaina Ferris presents a selection from her oratorio The Lydian Gale Parr. A manifesto of migratory community, of slipping in and out of disparate webs of belonging, it follows the history of a wandering, shape-shifting hero named Lydian Gale Parr, who travels from ancient cities to present-day container ships and back again. Using excerpts from Henry James’ novel The American, the work is caught somewhere between speech, recitation, and song, and is scored for eight vocalists, bass clarinet, bassoon, French horn, flute, piano, and bells. She has worked with artists such as Amanda Palmer, Jason Webley, Steve Earle, César Alvarez, Anne Waldman, Eliza Bent, Mia Rovegno, Mac Wellman, and more.

In The Night Palace
Avery Leigh’s Night Palace
September 17, 2019 7:30 pm
In the Night Palace is a new music-theater work developed at Summer Labs, featuring music from indie pop band Avery Leigh’s Night Palace and a script from playwright Sam Max. Accompanied by guitar, bass, synths, harp, woodwinds, and lap steel, classically-trained vocalist and actor Avery Leigh Draut explores the mysterious processes of the natural world at night and the transformative joy and magic of femme friendships. Minimalist choreography and projected illustrations by Sam Max give shape and add detail to the world of the Night Palace. Avery Leigh has performed at venues such as Joe’s Pub and the Brooklyn Museum alongside artists like Andrew Bird, Kishi Bashi, and Kadhja Bonet. 

Wave in Time
Eliot Krimsky
September 18, 2019 7:30 pm
A wave gives form to the vastness of the ocean. To composer and songwriter Eliot Krimsky, this vastness of the ocean is an analog for time, and a wave symbolizes a snapshot of a moment in history. In Wave in Time, an audiovisual concert Krimsky is developing at Summer Labs, his distinctive falsetto voice, Auto-Tune, and percussive synthesizer combine with meditative chanting, radio samples, and 3D renderings of fossilized objects, such as spirals, stones, and brass rings, to give form to the formless, and to suggest that our current time is connected to the time of all ages. Over the past decade Krimsky has formed several indie bands, including Glass Ghost, and collaborated with many notable artists, including Meshell Ndegeocello, Here We Go Magic, Sharon Van Etten, Deerhoof, Sheerwater, and choreographer Beth Gill.

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About National Sawdust
At National Sawdust, we believe music has the power to change the hearts and minds of those who listen, and therefore, the world. By supporting emerging artists, programming groundbreaking new music in our state-of-the-art Williamsburg venue, and developing and touring new, collaborative music-driven projects, National Sawdust is reshaping the landscape of contemporary music.

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