Currents

Currents

24 Channel Sound Installation

Experimental Sound Studio’s Sonic Pavilion Festival

August 9 & 18, 2025

Jay Pritzker Pavilion

See full program here.

Currents is a composition for Chicago’s new experimental choir (led by Chris Wood) of 30-40 members. In this recording (Constellation, 2025) performers circled around the microphone to sing assigned melodies, with the freedom to vary in speed and intensity throughout. By not prescribing a tempo, time dilates, and we float together. The spatialization mirrors this circular image, starting at the perimeter, and like waves flowing in and out, the voices slowly expand and retract, eventually dissolving into nothing.

On August 18 during the playback of Currents, selected members of the choir will participate in a sonic intervention where they will sing a version of the piece in real time as live accompaniment to the fixed work. Melodies and bodies will crisscross and intersect from not only above the listener, but permeating from all directions.

CHOIR (name TBD) is a rotating ensemble of ~30 singers led by Chris Wood. It’s an evolving community practice of group singing – eclectic repertoire, improvisation, experimentation, and play – a shared instrument for collective expression and a resource for artist experimentation.

Voices in the recording include Andrew Tham, Alexandra Lakind, Bran Moorhead, Chris Wood, Corey Smith, Gregory Maher, Iona Fox, Molly Roth Scranton, Nia Easley, Nolan Chin, Paige Naylor, Ro(b)//ert Lundberg, Steph Barnes, Zachary Good, and others not listed here.

Performers involved in the intervention include Alexandra Lakind, Andrew Tham, Becca White, Chris Wood, Corey Smith, Deidre Huckabay, Dora Hewitt, Gregory Maher, Haruhi Kobayashi, Kristin Abhalter Smith, Lizi Breit, Raul Cotaquispe, Ro(b)//ert Lundberg, and Steph Barnes.