We’ll see you in the legendary library of the Philosophical Research Society for an evening of curious music from two wondrous sonic sorcerers visiting from Chicago’s arts communities.
In one of her 1970s sonic meditations, Pauline Oliveros writes “take a walk at night, and walk so silently that the bottoms of your feet become ears.” This invitation to askew our perspective, to listen differently, is a basis of both composers this evening. Both artists explore patience, the possibilities and potentials of sound, whether in the designing the shapes of electricity or transforming the hum of a refrigerator into unexpected beauty. Respectively, both Lia and Zander have been phenomenal to witness and we’re so grateful to have the chance to collaborate previously here in Los Angeles.
Recently, Lia and Zander released an absolutely gorgeous collaborative record. It’s titled In Transit and is built around a collection of field recordings made in spaces of transit—bus stops, train stations, taxis—blended with the accordion and modular synthesizers textures of Zander Raymond & the cello and synthesizers of Lia Kohl.
This evening, Lia & Zander will share respective performances for cello, radios, and modular synth, with a moment for collaboration.
Lia Kohl is a cellist, composer, and sound artist based in Chicago. She creates and performs sonic landscapes utilizing cello, synthesizers, field recordings, and live radio to explore the mundane and profound possibilities of sound. She has presented work and performed at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Walker Art Center, Chicago Symphony Center, and Eckhart Park Pool. Recent releases include The Ceiling Reposes on American Dreams Records and Normal Sounds, on Moon Glyph. She was the 2023/24 Wave Farm Radio Art Fellow.
As an improviser and collaborator, she has participated in cultural exchanges in Mexico, France, Germany, Denmark, China and the UK, and toured on four continents. An active recording artist, she has arranged strings and recorded with Makaya McCraven, Circuit des Yeux, Steve Gunn, claire rousay, and Steve Hauschildt, among others. As a sound and visual artist, she has presented gallery shows at Roman Susan Art Foundation and Experimental Sound Studios’ Audible Gallery. She has been a resident artist at ACRE, Vashon Artist Residency, High Concept Labs, dfbrl8r Performance Art Gallery, Mana Contemporary, Stanford University, and Mills College. She tours regularly with puppet theater company Manual Cinema.
Zander Raymond is an interdisciplinary artist and musician working in Chicago. His music is rooted in improvisation, utilizing modular synthesizers and open-source sound computers to sample, warp, and build sonic images that embrace non-linear approaches to composition. He’s released music on Moon Glyph, Sound as Language, Florabelle, Cached.media, among others.
The Philosophical Research Society is a nonprofit institution founded in 1934 by scholar and prolific author Manly Palmer Hall as a repository of multicultural wisdom sources and a center of learning. With a campus designed by architect Robert Stacy-Judd and later designated a historical-cultural site by the city of Los Angeles, PRS is “dedicated to the ensoulment of all arts, sciences, and crafts.”
Since 1934, PRS has continually offered public programs for all lovers of wisdom on a vast array of topics presented by luminary speakers. The campus includes an auditorium, bookstore, lecture room, library, and gallery, all of which facilitate a full calendar of events. The PRS School fosters a worldwide community of seekers through its courses, and the Society continues to issue new editions and anthologies of Manly Hall’s work.
PRS was created to aid those seeking wisdom in the troubled time of its inception as well as those who would continue seeking practical and profound wisdom in the future. Through depression, wars, and other public crises, PRS has sought to preserve and grow our personal connection, so that, as Mr. Hall notes, “With faith, honesty, and common sense we can build a better world than any we have known.”