Concert in collaboration with Sound In Motion / Oorstof

Multi-instrumentalists Macie Stewart (piano, violin, vocals), Lia Kohl (cello, electronica) and Whitney Johnson (viola, electronica) belong to a new generation of musicians from Chicago’s fertile alternative music scene that is rapidly breaking out of obscurity.

Stewart does that with When the Distance Is Blue: a stunning solo piano album with guest appearances by Kohl and Johnson, as well as her debut on the ubiquitous International Anthem. Kohl and Johnson present For Translucence, their debut release on the legendary Drag City label, on which they intertwine string instruments, synthesizers, ambient sounds and radio interference into a “challenging neophonic orchestral expression”.

Macie Stewart

Macie Stewart is a prominent and highly sought collaborator with an impressive track record. She has already worked with Makaya McCraven and Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), written arrangements for Alabaster DePlume, Resavoir, Mannequin Pussy and SZA, been part of Ken Vandermark’s Marker, and she immerses herself in the art of songwriting with Finom – her duo project with songwriter Sima Cunningham. For her debut When the Distance Is Blue, she returns to her first musical love: the piano. She has the listener join her in the unavoidable forgotten and lost times that come with intensive touring.

Whitney Johnson & Lia Kohl

Whitney Johnson & Lia Kohl’s debut album developed over the years from their first experiments with free improvisation on viola and cello to – as it now sounds – a neophonic orchestral work. For Translucence is a captivating yet calming experience, a lively meditation in which layers of acoustic strings, synthesizers, field recordings, radio sounds and sine waves strengthen each other and intertwine.

Cellist, composer and multi-disciplinary artist Lia Kohl is part of Chicago’s new generation of experimental and improvisational musicians. With cello, synthesizers, field recordings and live radio, she explores the everyday and wide-ranging possibilities of sound, blurring the boundaries between performance, concert and installation work. Collaborations with artists like Circuit des Yeux, Steve Gunn, claire rousay, Steve Hauschildt and Makaya McCraven have provided her with a solid footing in the international music world.

Violist and academic Whitney Johnson leads a double life: there is the musical entity under the name Matchess, while as a sociologist of sound she is known as Whitney Johnson. In September 2024, Drag City simultaneously released Hav (Johnson) and Stena (Matchess), whereby her two personalities musically challenged each other to create new, hypnotic parallels.