Density Arts

The Density Fellows program is officially 1️⃣ year old ! 🥳 The program kicked off in May of 2023 in celebration of Density Arts’ 10th anniversary. The Density Fellows are ten astounding, emerging flutists from all around the world, including the United States, Mexico, Germany, Hungary, Finland, Uzbekistan, and Australia. Fellows have been working closely with @clairechaseflute and Density collaborators to extensively study the Density repertoire. We are so excited to finally introduce each Fellow as they will soon each be sharing their creative processes on this page. In the meantime, read more about them at nsityarts.org/fellows and check out their individual accounts: 🥑 @dalma.s_ 🥑 @concrete___husband 🥑 @renata.kambarova.flute 🥑 @phoebe_bognar 🥑 @jessica.shand 🥑 @malinsieberns 🥑 @teresa.ddcs 🥑 @imanwilliamsflute 🥑 @mariannesih 🥑 @amirflute

WELCOME TO: DENSITY ARTS ✨ Density Arts is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization chartered in New York dedicated to the advancement of contemporary flute music in the 21st century and spearheaded by fearless artist @clairechaseflute . The organization’s central project is Density 2036, a 24-year initiative launched in 2013 to create a new body of repertory for the flute each year until the 100th anniversary of Edgard Varèse’s groundbreaking 1936 flute solo, Density 21.5. Density Arts will commission, produce, and record a new program of flute music every year until 2036. Integral to the project is a commitment to supporting an international, multigenerational community of flutists who will take the nascent Density repertoire in bold new interpretive directions through the Density Fellows, Density Seeds, and Density Roots initiatives. For more info, please visit our website (link in bio)! We look forward to sharing more about our past and upcoming projects.

Density 2036 — IX (2022–23) Looking back to a work shaped both by dream and dialogue. In “Busy Griefs and Endangered Charms,” the composer-pianist (and 2025 MacArthur Fellow) Craig Taborn imagines a sonic landscape inspired by a surreal vision of @clairechaseflute moving through a garden where each encounter opens into exchange, like an opening flower. As she approaches each musician, @craigtaborn on piano and electronics, Joshua Rubin ( @jnruby ) on clarinets, and @susie.ibarra on percussion, a new conversation unfolds. Conceived as a "flute protagonist piece", the work moves through a sequence of sharply contrasting solos, duos, and ensemble passages. Each section carries its own distinct material and atmosphere, while improvised interludes extend and refract the composed music. The performers draw from a shared vocabulary of gestures, assembling the piece in real time with each other. As Thomas May writes, "Busy Griefs and Endangered Charms celebrates the boundary-defying imagination and spirit of improvisational co-creation that align perfectly with the ethos of the Density project." At its premiere at @thekitchen_nyc in May 2023 — the ninth of ten shows Claire played that week celebrating the first decade of Density projects to date — the performance was described by The New York Times critic Seth Colter-Walls as “one of the best shows I’ve seen this season". Swipe for excerpts from the premiere — film 🎥 by Howard Silver, sound design 🔊 by @levylorenzo , light design💡 by @nicholashoufeklighting Read the full essay by Thomas May: nsityarts.org/craig-taborn

In advance of Claire’s @sfperformances recital tonight at Herbst Theatre, here are a few excerpts from a recent performance at Wiegel Hall at Ohio State University (thanks to @tinatallon for her expert sound engineering 🔊 AND filming 🎥!) 1. Annea Lockwood/Claire Chase: “Elwha!” (2025) 2. @srimoonshinemusic “The Holy Liftoff” (2024) 3. @susie.ibarra “Sunbird” (2020, arr. Chase 2025) 4. @marcosbalter “Death of Pan” (2018) Claire will be joined tonight by the legendary San Francisco-based pianist @scbirmaher in a special rendition of one of Terry Riley’s recent graphic scores. Saturday, April 18, 7:30pm Herbst Theatre San Francisco Performances Tonight’s full program: ANNEA LOCKWOOD/CLAIRE CHASE: Solo from “Elwha!” (2025) SUSIE IBARRA: “Sunbird” (2020, arr. Chase) MARCOS BALTER: “Death of Pan,” “Echo,” and “Soliloquy” from PAN (2018) PAULINE OLIVEROS “Thirteen Changes” (1986, arr. Chase 2020) Rand Steiger, signal processing ____ TERRY RILEY: “Pulsing Liftors” (2024, arr. Chase/Cahill 2026) Sarah Cahill, piano TERRY RILEY: “The Holy Liftoff” (2024) Tickets available at sfperforamances.org See you tonight, San Francisco! #NotYourGrandmothersFluteRecital #Density2036

Thank you to @sfchronicle for this preview of Claire’s upcoming recital at Herbst Theatre as part of @sfperformances on April 18! “The musician — a founder of the International Contemporary Ensemble, a MacArthur Fellow and a former collaborative partner at the San Francisco Symphony — has done more to expand the flute repertory than anyone else in the history of the instrument.” — Lisa Hirsch (@lisairontongue ) Featuring new works by: Annea Lockwood @susie.ibarra @marcosbalter @duyun @srimoonshinemusic With special guest @cahill_piano 🎹 See you on April 18, San Francisco! 🌈 Read the full article by Lisa Hirsch on the website of San Francisco Chronicle

Density 2036 - X (2023) Looking back to a work that resonates everywhere at once. Swipe for excerpts from Ubique, by @annathorvalds , a title drawn from the Latin word meaning "everywhere". In this expansive 48-minute work, sound feels unbounded: shifting, breathing, unfolding across time and space. Written for @clairechaseflute with pianist Cory Smythe and cellists Katinka Kleijn @tinkatonk and @sethparkerwoods , Ubique explores the flute family as a vast, expressive field. In its July/August 2025 issue (p. 42) @the_wholenote described the album as carrying "expressive lyricism, spectral mystique, and richly refined humanity… nothing short of miraculous." The recording UBIQUE (@sonolummusic 💿) was also named one of National Public Radio’s 10 Best Classical Albums of 2025. Co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall, the Cheswatyr Foundation, and Density Arts, with lead support from Kurt Chauviere. Concert video excerpts from @ojaimusicfestival Live Stream by Walter Park and Tristan Cook Concert photograph: Jennifer Taylor, Carnegie Hall Composer photograph: Linda Nylind, The Guardian Stay tuned in the coming weeks for the rest of the retrospective on all the parts of Density 2036!

Density 2036 - XI (2024) Looking back to the moment of liftoff. Swipe for excerpts from The Holy Liftoff, a work by Terry Riley that began as a series of hand-drawn musical sketches, imagined as a visual playful inspiration and open invitation to those who would eventually bring it to sound. Developed over several years, the project brings together through-composed music, graphic notation, and open-form structures. Throughout the work, sound repeatedly rises, loosens, and releases, bringing a shift in gravity, attention, and perspective on both light and dark moments of life. The music moves between gravity and lift, holding space for reflection. In his handwritten program note, Riley thanks Claire Chase for allowing him to “plunge ahead with my ideas with the headlamps off, trusting what is out there in the darkness.” And looking ahead, he reflects on the work’s future: “When Claire starts performing this in public, it’ll take on a new life… It’s not going to have a real ending. Who knows where it will go.” For this rendition, @clairechaseflute partnered with the dynamic @jackquartet in a concert-length version realized by the composer Samuel Clay Birmaher @scbirmaher Reflecting on the work’s origins, Riley writes: “When I improvised the first bars of The Holy Liftoff, the melody and chords whispered its name while simultaneously urging me forward into a space where all the energies were rising.” That sense of forward motion, open, collective, unfinished, sits at the heart of this piece. In the next weeks, we’ll continue moving backward, one chapter at a time, revisiting the artists and communities that have shaped the first half of this journey. 📸 Photos by Mariko Miura 🎞 Concert video excerpts from @ojaimusicfestival Live Stream by Walter Park and Tristan Cook

We’re grateful to @nfaflute for publishing and sharing Listening as a Life Practice: Claire Chase, an essay by Robert Rabinowitz in The Flutist Quarterly. The excerpts highlighted here reflect core values that guide Density Fellows: deep listening, intergenerational dialogue, and artistic ecosystems rooted in care, generosity, and long-term thinking. As Claire Chase reminds us, how we listen shapes not only our music, but our communities, collaborations, and futures. We’re honored to share these passages and to be in conversation with partners who help amplify these ideas. Swipe right to discover some excerpts, and go read the full article via the website of The Flutist Quarterly. 📖 Listening as a Life Practice: Claire Chase ✍️ Robert Rabinowitz, The Flutist Quarterly

Density 2036 — XII (2025) Twelve years in: a retrospective. We’re deeply grateful to everyone who joined us for the world premiere of “Elwha!” : four sold-out performances and an extraordinary shared listening experience that marked the twelfth chapter of Density 2036. “Elwha!” is a living collaboration, composed by Annea Lockwood, @clairechaseflute , and the Elwha River itself. Drawing inspiration from movements advocating for personhood and legal rights of rivers, the Elwha is an equal creative collaborator in the work. Flowing through the ancestral and spiritual homelands of the Lower Elwha Klallam People, the Elwha has undergone profound transformation following the removal of century-old dams between 2011 and 2014, an act that restored fish passage and allowed long-suppressed ecological and cultural rhythms to reemerge. These layered histories and living currents are carried into the performance through an immersive seven-channel sound environment, surrounding the audience with the music of this iconic, liberated river. Bamboo water flutes, piccolos, altos, basses, contrabasses, glissando flutes, and C flutes respond to the Elwha and create a unique experience in which water, memory, and sound converge.  Flutes: Claire Chase Live sound: Caley Monahan-Ward Performed December 11, 2025 at The Kitchen @ Westbeth Video: Howard Silver Audio: Caley Monahan-Ward @caleymw_ Lighting & Production Design: Nicholas Houfek @nicholashoufeklighting Photo: @wlodarczyk Co-commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation, the Seattle Symphony, and Larry and Arlene Dunn, with generous support from @tippet.rise and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Elwha! is the twelfth cycle of Density 2036, a 24-year project to create a new repertory for the flute leading to the centennial of Edgard Varèse’s Density 21.5 in 2036. We’re profoundly thankful to @thekitchen_nyc , which has been the presenting home for all twelve Density projects to date, and to the many artists, collaborators, fellows, supporters, and audiences who have helped shape this work over the past 12 years. Over the coming weeks, we’ll move backward, one chapter at a time, through the history of Density 2036.

We continue our spotlight on the inaugural Density Fellows, reflecting on the journeys that shaped their seasons. Marianne’s time with Density has been unforgettable and deeply meaningful — marked by meeting incredible people and making music across countries and communities. During her first year as a Density Fellow, @mariannesih performed @felipe_lara23 ’s Meditation and Calligraphy (Density 2036: Part I) in her soloist concert at Musikhuset Aarhus, as part of her soloist studies at Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium. Beyond the Fellowship’s shared Zoom meetings, Marianne also had the chance to work closely with Claire Chase in person — meeting for lessons and following her through concerts in Hamburg, Washington D.C., New York, and Providence. Thanks to a warm invitation from Density Fellow @jessica.shand , Marianne traveled to Providence to perform and take part in workshops at Brown University, an experience thoughtfully organized by Jessica and rooted in collaboration and exchange. The final highlight of Marianne’s Fellowship journey came in April 2025, when she performed @chenphyllis321 's Roots of Interior (Density 2036: Part VI) in her debut concert at Musikhuset Aarhus. “This piece will always hold a special place in my heart,” Marianne shares. “Its atmosphere is intense, beautiful, and fragile all at once. I feel incredibly lucky that I was able to perform it and to let the audience hear my own heartbeat live. Forever grateful to Claire and Density Arts for the support." 🎥 Swipe through to experience moments from Marianne’s performances and her journey as a Density Fellow.

Meet Dalma Sarnyai, a Density Fellow whose work moves between sound, space, and the physical presence of performance. Based in Vienna, Austria, she explores the intersection of contemporary flute practice, experimental notation, and embodied performance. Through collaborations with musicians, composers and ensembles, she treats each performance as a site-specific dialogue — where architecture, gesture, and listening audiences shape the music in real time. Her projects range from gallery interventions and museum performances to intimate chamber settings, always searching for new forms of expression within the contemporary and classical flute repertoire. Over the past seasons she has developed a distinctive practice centered on extended techniques, graphic scores, and spatial performance. 1,5: collaboration with @ritagobi for @dwbbudapest 2: intervention to “Begegnungsmusik” from and with @ruperthubermusic and @lena_fankhauserviola at @pinakothekdermoderne 3: performing hannahsgkendall at @wienmodern @musikverein.wien in collab with @intcontemporary 4: current score studies for next performances in 2026 6: performing at @budapestmusiccenter 7: performing Density 21.5 at @kultursommerwien

Meet @teresa.ddcs , part of the inaugural Density Fellowship led by Claire Chase! April, May (2025) – Marcos Balter's "Pan" and  Matana Roberts' "Auricular Hearsay"  Concert presented at: Bread & Salt Gallery, San Diego, California, University of Milwakee and Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. Echoes of Density was part of the Salty Series by Project [BLANK], a collaboration with music students from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California and community members from Ensenada as part of the ensemble for Marcos Balter's "Pan." Along with @inset.trio in^set (@daviduhgeela David Aguila and @ilanawaniuk Ilana Waniuk), Matana Roberts' "Auricular Hearsay" took place. David Aguila did the electronics and sound design for Balter's Pan, and Ilana Waniuk created the beautiful live visuals!! The concert was also presented at the University of Milwaukee and Universidad Autónoma de Baja California in April and May (2025) November (2024) – Sarah Hennie's Reservoir 2. A concert presented and curated by Project [BLANK] at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, San Diego. Sarah Hennie's Reservoir 2, with the San Diego New Verbal Workshop. San Diego New Verbal Workshop is a community choir formed in 2023. And Allison O. Evans, whose beautiful light sculpture guided us deeper into a meditative state. According to Evans, “Ethereal pillars of light, which echo the space’s neo-Gothic columns, will slowly emerge out of darkness over the duration of the performance, drawing attention to both the site and to the bodies of the performers. This dance of light, sound, and movement immerses the viewer in the interstitial space of the mind, evoking the animus of Hennies’ work." Deeply inspired and grateful for these shared experiences! 📸 by Robbie Bui (1-3, 5-6, 8-10) and Alvaro Diaz (4)