UChicago composers and sound practitioners present installed works across the spaces of the Green Line Performing Arts Center and Arts Incubator. On Saturday evening, a sequence of short live sets (approximately 15 minutes each) by UChicago students, faculty, and Chicago sound practitioners will take place in the Black Box, with works also on display in the foyer. Open Studios give visitors the freedom to wander, listen, and engage with works in progress. All are welcome. Full participants’ list available via QR code on SPIL’s website.
About the Critical Sounds Symposium
The Composition and Sound Practices program and SPIL at the University of Chicago Music Department present Critical Sounds (April 9–11, 2026), a three-day symposium/festival at the intersection of sound studies, experimental composition and performance, electroacoustic music, and the vibrant electronic dance music scene born in Chicago.
Critical Sounds brings together leading artists, researchers, and practitioners for a program that refuses the separation between scholarly inquiry and artistic practice. The event features a keynote lecture by Oxford's Gascia Ouzounian — one of the most important voices in sound studies today — alongside performances by boundary-pushing sound artist Evicshen (Victoria Shen) and Chicago house music legend DJ Lady D. Clarinetist and extended-techniques specialist Heather Roche performs a program of contemporary music composed by UChicago students, and Shortwave Collective leads a hands-on workshop, presented by Patchbent at Experimental Sound Studio, in DIY radio construction and feminist sonic practice.
The symposium also presents a curated selection of practice-based research presentations, open studios featuring installed works by UChicago students, and performances by UChicago students, faculty, and Chicago sound practitioners. All events are free and open to the public.
Critical Sounds is presented in partnership with Arts + Public Life and Franke Institute for the Humanities at the University of Chicago, and in partnership with Patchbent and Experimental Sound Studio. Events take place at the Green Line Performing Arts Center & Arts Incubator, Logan Center for the Arts Performance Penthouse (901), Experimental Sound Studio, and Fulton Hall in Goodspeed Hall at the UChicago Music Department.