The new August Return the Gift curated series at Temescal Arts Center continues with two great sound artists featuring Zachary James Watkins and Jean Carla Rodea.

Zachary James Watkins:

Zachary James Watkins studied composition at Cornish College and received an MFA in Electronic Music and Recording Media from Mills College in 2006. Zachary has received commissions from The Empyrean Ensemble, Splinter Reeds, The Switch Ensemble, Density512, sfsound, The Living Earth Show, Kronos Quartet and the Seattle Chamber Players among others. Zachary has performed in numerous festivals across the United States, Mexico and Europe and his band Black Spirituals opened for pioneering Minimal Metal band Earth during their 2015 European tour. Zachary completed Documentado /Undocumentado a multimedia interactive book in collaboration with Guillermo Gómez Peña, Gustavo Vasquez, Jennifer Gonzalez and Felicia Rice. Zachary has been an artist-in-resident at the Espy Foundation, Djerassi, the Headlands Center for The Arts and the Amant Foundation Siena, Italy.


Jean Carla Rodea:

Jean Carla Rodea (b. Mexico City) is a research-based interdisciplinary artist and educator. Her/their work involves a variety of disciplines and mediums such as music, sound, vocal performance, poetry, performance art, photography, video, movement, and sculpture. Her artistic practice deals with spaces and instances where problematic socio-political and cultural constructs are rendered visible through multimedia installations and performances. As a musician and improviser, Jean Carla is dedicated to performing and composing various music/sound in diverse settings–from solo to large ensembles. She/they have performed and recorded with William Parker, Darius Jones’ vocal quartet Elizabeth-Caroline Unit, Gerald Cleaver’s Uncle June, Anthony Braxton’s Syntactical Ghost Trance Music Choir, and Cecilia Lopez’s Machinic Fantasies. In addition to this, she/they lead her/their multi-media projects; Buscando a Marina/Looking for Marina, and Nine Easy Steps Toward Oblivion. Jean Carla has worked and collaborated with Asiya Wadud, Miriam Parker, rebeca medina, Merche Blasco, Amirtha Kidambi, Patricia Nicholson, Jo Wood Brown, Rachel Bernsen, AC Diamond, Taylor Ho-Bynum, Joe Morris, Stephen Haynes, Matt Mottel, etc. Rodea was a 2023 Issue Project Room AIR. She has performed extensively and shown work at Roulette Intermedium, Carnegie Hall, BRIC, Knockdown Center, Judson Church, Danspace, Center for Performance Research, Panoply Lab, The Clemente, FiveMyles, mh PROJECT nyc, to mention a few.
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The new August Return the Gift curated series at Temescal Arts Center continues with two great sound artists featuring Merlin Coleman and Ava Koohbor.


Merlin Coleman:

Merlin Coleman is a multimedia artist making work ranging from a Gargling Chorus to a layered piece about a local quarry’s environmental degradation. Coleman holds an MFA in Composition from California Institute of the Arts. Her works intermingle field recordings, sound poetry,

performance art, movement, film, and audience participation with melting pianos, unraveled stories, and harmony-filled songs often presented in multichannel sound systems. She has been awarded residencies at Chalk Hill, Engine 27, Millet Farm, Ragdale, Audium S.F. and BANFF, has produced two full length recordings, and appears on multiple compilations.

http://www.merlinman.com


Ava Koohbor:

Ava Koohbor is an experimental sound artist and instrument builder. Through an undetermined process she transforms the acoustical properties of everyday’s objects to create an immersive experience of sound in space.

Her latest works have been performed at Night of Ideas, San Francisco Electronic Music Festival, Re:Sound, Audium, APICC Festival and more.

https://avakoohborarts.com/
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Open Workshop and Playground in free improvisation hosted by Lewis Jordan:
Inviting musicians, poets, dancers, to a non-hierarchical setting to improvise together.
Spontaneously Assembled Small Groups will collaborate
Bring your instrument, your body, your poetry
Come to listen, to be heard, to see, to move
7:30–9:00 random grouping
9:00–10:00 p/re/arranged grouping

7:00 Load-in for everyone
7:30 Random trios ~7 minutes each (depending on number of participants)
9:00 Second round of less random groupings
10:00 Sound must stop

Donations for the venue rental are encouraged
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Doors That Only Open in Silence (open participation, non-hierarchical workshop in free improvisation)

Monthly series of improvisation research at Temescal Arts Center. Bring your instrument or come to listen. Movement and other disciplines encouraged. No advance notice needed — just show up.

Small groups will be randomly assembled from submitted names immediately before each group plays. Set up before 8:00 and be as ready to play as possible. We try to keep transition time between groups at a minimum. Over by 10pm.

Bring your own gear. As a rule, there are not instruments available to share. Anyone requiring amplification should bring a small amp. It’s recommended to bring an extension cable and power strip if you need power. Outlets and supplies are limited. Get in touch if you have any questions or special requests.

community agreements:
- Open and welcoming attitude.
- Respect for the space, which is an artist-run community resource. (Please show extra care for the recently refurbished dance floor.)
- Respect for other people and their instruments.
- - Be mindful of the personal space you inhabit while performing to ensure no harm is done to any people, instruments, etc.
- - Leave floor space for movement and movers. Secure your instrument when you’re not playing.

7:30 PM (over by 10 PM, see schedule below)
TAC: Temescal Art Center
511 48th Street, Oakland
Donations for the venue rental are encouraged.

7:30 - Load-in — everyone sets up simultaneously.
8:00 - Random trios (or other small groups), about 7 minutes each depending on number of participants.
9:00 - Second round of random trios.
10:00 - Sound must stop.

videos from past editions: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_HPASqyjYfIjlxrLSSkeQ6VZHDZNx9DG

mailing list: https://heule.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9cd317ce9b99ee106279105ed&id=fcc26e79a5
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Doors That Only Open in Silence (open participation, non-hierarchical workshop in free improvisation)

Monthly series of improvisation research at Temescal Arts Center. Bring your instrument or come to listen. Movement and other disciplines encouraged. No advance notice needed — just show up.

Small groups will be randomly assembled from submitted names immediately before each group plays. Set up before 8:00 and be as ready to play as possible. We try to keep transition time between groups at a minimum. Over by 10pm.

Bring your own gear. As a rule, there are not instruments available to share. Anyone requiring amplification should bring a small amp. It’s recommended to bring an extension cable and power strip if you need power. Outlets and supplies are limited. Get in touch if you have any questions or special requests.

community agreements:
- Open and welcoming attitude.
- Respect for the space, which is an artist-run community resource. (Please show extra care for the recently refurbished dance floor.)
- Respect for other people and their instruments.
- - Be mindful of the personal space you inhabit while performing to ensure no harm is done to any people, instruments, etc.
- - Leave floor space for movement and movers. Secure your instrument when you’re not playing.

7:30 PM (over by 10 PM, see schedule below)
TAC: Temescal Art Center
511 48th Street, Oakland
Donations for the venue rental are encouraged.

7:30 - Load-in — everyone sets up simultaneously.
8:00 - Random trios (or other small groups), about 7 minutes each depending on number of participants.
9:00 - Second round of random trios.
10:00 - Sound must stop.

videos from past editions: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_HPASqyjYfIjlxrLSSkeQ6VZHDZNx9DG

mailing list: https://heule.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9cd317ce9b99ee106279105ed&id=fcc26e79a5
✚gCal  ✚iCal  More...

Open Workshop and Playground in free improvisation hosted by Lewis Jordan:
Inviting musicians, poets, dancers, to a non-hierarchical setting to improvise together.
Spontaneously Assembled Small Groups will collaborate
Bring your instrument, your body, your poetry
Come to listen, to be heard, to see, to move
7:30–9:00 random grouping
9:00–10:00 p/re/arranged grouping

7:00 Load-in for everyone
7:30 Random trios ~7 minutes each (depending on number of participants)
9:00 Second round of less random groupings
10:00 Sound must stop

Donations for the venue rental are encouraged
✚gCal  ✚iCal  More...

Doors That Only Open in Silence (open participation, non-hierarchical workshop in free improvisation)

Monthly series of improvisation research at Temescal Arts Center. Bring your instrument or come to listen. Movement and other disciplines encouraged. No advance notice needed — just show up.

Small groups will be randomly assembled from submitted names immediately before each group plays. Set up before 8:00 and be as ready to play as possible. We try to keep transition time between groups at a minimum. Over by 10pm.

Bring your own gear. As a rule, there are not instruments available to share. Anyone requiring amplification should bring a small amp. It’s recommended to bring an extension cable and power strip if you need power. Outlets and supplies are limited. Get in touch if you have any questions or special requests.

community agreements:
- Open and welcoming attitude.
- Respect for the space, which is an artist-run community resource. (Please show extra care for the recently refurbished dance floor.)
- Respect for other people and their instruments.
- - Be mindful of the personal space you inhabit while performing to ensure no harm is done to any people, instruments, etc.
- - Leave floor space for movement and movers. Secure your instrument when you’re not playing.

7:30 PM (over by 10 PM, see schedule below)
TAC: Temescal Art Center
511 48th Street, Oakland
Donations for the venue rental are encouraged.

7:30 - Load-in — everyone sets up simultaneously.
8:00 - Random trios (or other small groups), about 7 minutes each depending on number of participants.
9:00 - Second round of random trios.
10:00 - Sound must stop.

videos from past editions: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_HPASqyjYfIjlxrLSSkeQ6VZHDZNx9DG

mailing list: https://heule.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9cd317ce9b99ee106279105ed&id=fcc26e79a5
✚gCal  ✚iCal  More...