WHAT IS THE CULTURAL ECOLOGIES SERIES?
Unheard-of Ensemble, in collaboration with the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, features world premieres and cutting edge music by artists exploring climate change, race, technology’s impact on our mental health, and feminism presented in a setting that brings people closer together in an open and adventurous way. For our 2nd Cultural Ecologies season, we are presenting three performances and the opening of a site-specific Gowanus soundwalk.
These free performances will take place at the Gowanus Dredgers Bunker as well as their paddle-in movie location (both ADA accessible). The audience will be able to attend the performance either via canoe (reserved in advance via donation to the Dredgers), sitting on one of the Dredgers’ new docks, or on shore via an accessible location. Each performance opens with a talk given by members of the Dredgers about their work in the Canal.
THIS PROGRAM IS SUPPORTED, IN PART, BY PUBLIC FUNDS FROM THE NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY COUNCIL.
Unheard-of’s performances are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Summoning You: Featuring Leila Adu
Opening: Jessica Ackerley
Date: May 24th, 2025, 8PM Music, 7:30PM Canoe Launch
Location: Gowanus Dredgers Bunker, 2 19th St, Brooklyn, NY 11232
Electropop, avant-classical singer-songwriter Leila Adu joins Unheard-of to kick off the 2025 Cultural Ecologies season with new and recent arrangements of her music including her Freedom Suite and music from her latest album Moonstone & Tar Sands. Compared to Nina Simone and Joanna Newsome by WNYC, Adu has released five acclaimed albums, and has given visionary solo BBC and WQXR performances.
Hawai’i-based jazz guitarist, composer, and improvisor Jessica Ackerley opens the performance with a set of her original work. Ackerley will be performing selections from their most recent record, "All Of the Colours are Singing" and new music inspired by a summer 2024 residency in Svalbard, Norway. Their music has been featured and reviewed in Pitchfork, Wire Magazine, BBC Radio, Whole Note, MusicWorks Magazine, New York City Jazz Record, and BandCamp’s monthly “Best of” lists.
Travelogue: 2nd Street Sound Paddle
Date: Sunday, June 29th, 2025, 12PM-6PM Open Paddle (Pop-up performance at 6PM)
Location: Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse, 165 2nd St, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Unheard-of and music technologist Brian Ellis team up for the second iteration of our sound paddle, this time exploring the upper Gowanus from 2nd street to flushing tunnel. Hear sights, sounds, and stories from the Gowanus at your own pace via headphones or bluetooth speaker during any open paddle. As part of the opening day, members of the ensemble and the Dredgers will be able to guide you as you embark on your journey. There will be mini pop-ups throughout the day and a short live performance at 6PM in the boathouse with drinks to celebrate the opening!
System Architecture: Quiñones and Van Zandt Lane
Date: August 2nd, 2025, 8PM Music, 7:30PM Boat Launch
Location: Anable Basin (4521 5th St, Long Island City, NY 11101) near LIC Culture Lab, Queens
System Architecture features the premiere of Eyecandy, a multimedia song-cycle by Christian Quiñones for chamber ensemble and virtual singer (Vocaloid Synthesizer), exploring themes of virtual excess, internet fatigue, and digital humor, drawing from personal experiences with mental health and the online world. Christian Quiñones is a Puerto Rican composer who explores personal and vulnerable stories through the lens of cultural identity. From sampling to auto-tune, interactive multimedia, Christian is interested in interacting with existing music to create intertextual narratives.
We also feature a premiere by Peter Van Zandt Lane for ensemble, electronics, and video triangulating ecological changes and sea level rise. This event takes place at Anable Basin in collaboration with Long Island City Community Boathouse and the Dredgers.
Fire Ecologies Album Release Party
Date: September 27th, 2025, 6:30PM Music, 6PM Canoe Launch
Location: Gowanus Dredgers Bunker, 2 19th St, Brooklyn, NY 11232
Join Unheard-of Ensemble, the Dredgers, and Christopher Stark for our Fire Ecologies album release party. The ensemble performs the entire album live followed by an afterparty featuring food and drink from some of our favorite Brooklyn breweries and distilleries.
Fire Ecologies is an album length Chamber Music America commission from Rome Prize-winning composer Christopher Stark, exploring America's changing landscapes in the face of climate change. The work incorporates field recordings of the 2020 California wildfires and sounds from Chris's travel across Montana, Oregon, and California as well as parts of Colorado as well as explorations of nature from America’s heartland surrounding Missouri. The album will be released on New Focus Recordings and available in-person at the show.