The Lab: August, 2023

Ellen Arkbro and Sally Decker (from the withfriends Web page for this event at The Lab)

Yes, I know that my preview article for September performances at The Lab was released at the end of last week. However, yesterday afternoon I learned of a performance that will take place at the end of this month that deserves attention. This will be a two-set recital that The Lab will co-present with Superior Viaduct.

The opening set will be taken by Sally Decker, who is based in the Bay Area. She performs her own compositions, which involve feedback, synthesizers, text, and voice. She describes her approach to performances as being “rooted in presence, healing processes, and the emotional potential of sounds as portals of connection.” In 2021 she released an album on NNA Tapes entitled In The Tender Dream. She is also involved in duo projects, but her Lab performance will be a solo.

Decker will be followed by Ellen Arkbro, whose primary focus involves the qualities of sound that reveal listening as an active process of creative participation. Her awareness of those qualities may have emerged through her studies with La Monte Young, whose The Well-Tuned Piano coaxes the attentive listener into a domain of sequences and simultaneities that transcend the equal-tempered twelve-pitch chromatic scale. Arkbro has composed for an organ based on meantone temperament, and she has similarly given performances based on just intonation. Her portfolio thus accounts for acoustic instruments, synthetic sound, and combinations of both. Her offering at The Lab will involve just intonation, performed by both synthesizer and trumpet.

As many readers probably know by now, The Lab is located in the Mission at 2948 16th Street. This is particularly good for those using public transportation, since the nearby corner provides bus stops for both north-south and east-west travel as well as a BART station. This performance will take place on Thursday, August 31, beginning at 8:30 p.m.; and, as usual, the doors will open at 8 p.m. General admission will be $15, and tickets may be purchased online through a Withfriends event page. However, there will be a discounted (or free) rate at the door for members.