UPCOMING performanceS
score for trees | Maria Takeuchi | Theterlab presents
September 11th, Friday doors 7pm / start 7:30pm
September 12th, Saturday doors 7pm / start 7:30pm
Venue: Theaterlab
Tickets: https://theaterlabnyc.com/maria-takeuchi-score-for-trees-sept-11-12-26/
score for trees is an interdisciplinary composition that translates the physical structures and growth patterns of New York City trees into live performance.
Using photogrammetry, Maria Takeuchi captures the three dimensional growth patterns of a single tree in Prospect Park, Brooklyn (40.6670809, -73.9694442). Each point in this spatial data is translated into shifts in frequency and textural abstraction, becoming the raw material for a graphic score. Branch structures become notational shapes that inspire sound texture and frequency, estimated growth year duration becomes the piece’s compositional time structure, and branch thickness informs tonal choices in the instrumentation.
The tree at the center of the piece has its own story. Over months of observation, several of its large branches came down in a storm, a quiet reminder of impermanence and of how quickly what takes decades to grow can change in a moment. To notate a growing tree is to notate something already in the process of decaying, its growth and entropy in constant, inseparable transformation.
Rooted in the philosophy of ancient Japanese gagaku, music composed for and inspired by nature, score for trees creates an abstract translation between tree ecology and sound.
The graphic notation is composed by Maria Takeuchi, who invited a group of collaborators to interpret the score and bring it into sound together, each artist reading the score's shapes and durations through their own instrument and sensibility.
Nava Dunkelman, percussion, is a frequent collaborator of Takeuchi's. Born in Tokyo and raised in a multicultural household by an American father and Indonesian mother, Dunkelman is a Brooklyn based percussionist and improviser whose approach combines virtuosity with intuition, drawing on a distinctive sound palette to explore a vast spectrum of musical possibility.
Henry Fraser, contrabass, is a double bassist and composer whose practice is rooted in improvisation and collaboration, with a body of work spanning artists including Ka Baird, John Zorn, Uniform, and Mary Halvorson, and performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Unsound Festival. Since 2019, Fraser has focused intensively on solo double bass, developing a practice centered on resonance, physical gesture, and extended acoustic inquiry, most recently on his album Pneuma, released by Kou Records in June 2026.
rocío sánchez, cello, is a Mexican composer, performer, and educator whose work bridges improvisation, field recordings, virtual animation, and collage. sánchez explores the sonority of the cello by preparing it with recycled materials, adapting it into an instrument that morphs throughout performance, from soft kalimba like tones to roaring, static laden textures drawn from manipulated VHS tape.
che ali, violin, is an experimental interdisciplinary artist based in New York City who performs and composes as a violinist while integrating objects, voice, movement, and poetry. Their practice explores memory, place, and the everyday through a somatic and conceptual lens, with close attention to timbre, resonance, and interiority.
Takeuchi performs electronics and generative visuals, drawing the ensemble's interpretations into a shared, evolving image of the tree.
This project is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) through the Support for Artists Grant.
Sound engineering and technical support by Alec Fellman.
PAST EVENTS
Testu Collective Presents: Sublime Frequencies
A curated evening of sonic and visual performances with tea & local herbal tinctures in an intimate setting. Kirin Mcelwain, MA(Maria Takeuchi & Alec Fellman), and Testu(Serena Stucke & Dan Tesene) will perform sets focused on intricate sounds and sonic textures. Each set will have video art projected on multiple transparent screens hanging in the loft. In between sets, Marihito Ayabe will dj dub and ambient music. Nourishing herbal and Japanese teas will be served with local herbal tinctures by Drew Demi of Sacred Software.
7pm: Doors / 8pm: Performances start
Secret Greenpoint Location near G train
Friday, May 10th, 8-11pm
Kirin McElwain is a cellist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer working in the realms of improvised, experimental, contemporary classical music, and popular music. In her own sound and compositional practice, she uses cello, modular synthesizer, and voice to explore the tension between formal structure and chaos, western classical harmony and noise, and ideas of “goodness” and “correctness.
MA is the collaborative sound and visual works of Maria Takeuchi and Alec Fellman. Together they create sonic and visual poems, merging organismic soundscapes with generative art and illuminating objects inspired by nature.
Testu is the intermedia art group founded by Serena Stucke & Dan Tesene. They create experimental videos, concept soundtracks, audiovisual experiences, sound art, and performance art installations.
Marihito Ayabe is Brooklyn based DJ, Producer & Label Owner, who has worked with Lee Perry and Bill Laswell in the past. Currently DJing in NYC and Tokyo.
Drew Demi / Sacred Software
Sacred Software is a Brooklyn based tincture studio created by artist and herbalist Drew Demi.
ENN by Maria Takeuchi
satosphere | Société des arts technologiques
ENN by Maria Takeuchi is an interactive installation in the Satopshere. est une installation interactive dans la Satosphère. The concept of the project is to represent an existentialist philosophy in the microcosm of the dome while adding an interactive component with the audience.
The installation allows the public to freely explore the potential of interaction, thus taking part in a co-narrative experience. Like individuals, the particles evolve and transform, showing that we are all connected.
The experience repeats in a cycle, symbolizing the rebirth of existence.
Schedule:
March 1, 2023 - April 1, 2023
Tuesday to Saturday
Sessions at 5pm, 5:45pm and 6:30 pm
Total duration:
30 minutes
Tickets:
https://my.weezevent.com/enn
General admission
13$
Public
4 year old +
Interactive immersive installation
”ENN”
I am pleased to announce the installation created throughout the years of artist residency at Société des Arts Technologiques in Montréal, Canada.
2/25/2023 (SAT) @Satosphre
7pm - 1am
https://sat.qc.ca/fr/evenements/nuit-blanche-dans-la-satosphere
ENN means circle, ENN means ties, and a profound connection among human beings and matter.
The concept of the project is to represent an existentialist philosophy in the microcosm of the dome while adding an interactive component with the audience.
The installation allows the public to freely explore the potential of interaction, thus taking part in a co-narrative experience. Like individuals, the particles evolve and transform, showing that we are all connected.
The experience repeats in a cycle, symbolizing the rebirth of existence.
