Participatory Sound Workshops and Experimental Music Series
At the Monongalia Arts Center, 107 High Street in Morgantown, West Virginia
Morgantown Soundstreams is an artist-led series exploring local creativity, experimentation, and collaboration through sound. After a successful first year as an open improvisation lab and concert series, Soundstreams is growing into a series of facilitated workshops and performances that invite community members into different sound worlds.
Each event is led by a local or regional artist and offers a new entry point into creative practice: storytelling, folk music, drones, jazz, visual art, composition, film scoring, technology, and free improvisation. Rather than presenting experimental music as something separate from everyday life, Soundstreams asks what new forms can emerge from the people, traditions, and sounds of Morgantown.
These community-focused events are designed for professional and non-professional musicians, including adults and kids (recommended 16+), as well as curious listeners. You do not need formal training to participate, just a willingness to listen, experiment, and collaborate.
Soundstreams is organized by local Morgantown musician Annick Odom and WVU School of Music professor Jake Sandridge and Jason Zeh with support from a growing network of West Virginia artists and collaborators. Past close organizing collaborators have included WVU School of Music Professors Mark Micchelli and Andy Sledge along with Mai Khoi.
Upcoming Events
More details coming soon. Planned 2026–2027 themes include:
Each event is led by a local or regional artist and offers a new entry point into creative practice: storytelling, folk music, drones, jazz, visual art, composition, film scoring, technology, and free improvisation. Rather than presenting experimental music as something separate from everyday life, Soundstreams asks what new forms can emerge from the people, traditions, and sounds of Morgantown.
These community-focused events are designed for professional and non-professional musicians, including adults and kids (recommended 16+), as well as curious listeners. You do not need formal training to participate, just a willingness to listen, experiment, and collaborate.
Soundstreams is organized by local Morgantown musician Annick Odom and WVU School of Music professor Jake Sandridge and Jason Zeh with support from a growing network of West Virginia artists and collaborators. Past close organizing collaborators have included WVU School of Music Professors Mark Micchelli and Andy Sledge along with Mai Khoi.
Upcoming Events
More details coming soon. Planned 2026–2027 themes include:
- Sonic Postcards — collecting sounds, voices, and improvisations from Morgantown
- Storytelling — exploring oral tradition, memory, and sound
- Folk + Experimentation — reshaping Appalachian musical practices through improvisation
- Drones + Deep Listening — using sustained sound, voice, instruments, and resonance
- Movie Night — creating live improvised scores for film
- Community Composition — writing and performing pieces together
- Visual Art + Sound — connecting images, movement, and music
- Free Play — an open celebration of experimentation and collaboration
Upcoming Events
More details coming soon. Planned 2026–2027 themes include:
More details coming soon. Planned 2026–2027 themes include:
- Sonic Postcards — collecting sounds, voices, and improvisations from Morgantown
- Storytelling — exploring oral tradition, memory, and sound
- Folk + Experimentation — reshaping Appalachian musical practices through improvisation
- Drones + Deep Listening — using sustained sound, voice, instruments, and resonance
- Movie Night — creating live improvised scores for film
- Community Composition — writing and performing pieces together
- Visual Art + Sound — connecting images, movement, and music
- Free Play — an open celebration of experimentation and collaboration
How do I participate?
Anyone who would like to participate is welcome, as long as they follow the community agreements below. All instruments, voices, sound-making objects, and experience levels are welcome. Each event will be a little different. Some may include guided improvisation, group sound-making, storytelling, listening exercises, collaborative composition, or discussion. The goal is not to make something perfect. The goal is to explore, listen, and create together. If you need something in order to participate, such as access to a PA, help moving equipment, borrowing an amp, or another accommodation, please reach out to Annick Odom (through this contact form, or via email/cell if you are already in contact).
How can I be an facilitator at Soundstreams?
Do you have a music style you'd like to share with the larger Morgantown community? Reach out to Annick Odom (through this contact form, or via email/cell if you are already in contact) to share your idea.
Anyone who would like to participate is welcome, as long as they follow the community agreements below. All instruments, voices, sound-making objects, and experience levels are welcome. Each event will be a little different. Some may include guided improvisation, group sound-making, storytelling, listening exercises, collaborative composition, or discussion. The goal is not to make something perfect. The goal is to explore, listen, and create together. If you need something in order to participate, such as access to a PA, help moving equipment, borrowing an amp, or another accommodation, please reach out to Annick Odom (through this contact form, or via email/cell if you are already in contact).
How can I be an facilitator at Soundstreams?
Do you have a music style you'd like to share with the larger Morgantown community? Reach out to Annick Odom (through this contact form, or via email/cell if you are already in contact) to share your idea.
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Community Agreements
This is a space for people from different backgrounds, with different levels and types of musical training, to improvise together. To ensure this is successful, we introduce 5 community agreements to make this event one that is welcoming and free of negative judgment. 1. We agree to approach one another with openness, respect, and kindness. You do not have to like everything that everyone does, but we do ask that you are respectful of others’ aesthetic choices both on and off the bandstand. As Pauline Oliveros would say, “lift off judgment.” 2. We agree to use this space for creative exploration and exchange. Whether we are improvising, composing, storytelling, experimenting, or listening, we value curiosity, collaboration, and discovery. The value in what we’re doing lies in the process, not necessarily the outcome. 3. We agree to be mindful of ethics and boundaries when making sounds together. Some important considerations include:
4. We encourage discussion of musical decisions, so long as consent is given for critical feedback. We ask that you approach these discussions with openness, respect, and kindness. 5. We agree to respect the facilitators. The facilitators are here to make sure the session runs smoothly, and that space is held for everyone to meet each other on as equitable a footing as possible. Does everyone here agree to abide by these agreements? [YES!] |
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Past Events:
Sunday, November 2, 2025 at 7 pm Opening performances: Bridge Bassoon Duo Bridge Bassoon Duo is a contemporary bassoon ensemble dedicated to expanding the possibilities of the instrument through adventurous programming, collaboration, and new music. Through performances that highlight both established and emerging works, the duo explores the wide sonic range of the bassoon and creates new connections between performers, composers, and audiences. Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 7 pm Opening performances: Mai Khôi and Mark Micchelli, and Chris Haddox and John Posey Mai Khôi is a singer, composer, and activist. She rose to stardom in 2010 after winning the Vietnam Television Song and Album of the Year awards. In recognition of her work at the intersection of art and activism, Khôi was awarded the 2018 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent and the 2022 Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Speech. Mark Micchelli is a composer, pianist, scholar, and educator whose work hybridizes contemporary classical, jazz, and popular music idioms. Mark’s music has been presented at venues such as Joe’s Pub (NYC), the Smithsonian Museum (Washington, DC), and La Fenice (Venice, Italy). Mark served as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Composition at West Virginia University. Chris Haddox is a Logan, West Virginia-born songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist now based out of Morgantown, West Virginia. He combines humor, sarcasm, and blunt honesty to create songs that are accessible and relatable to a wide variety of audiences. John Posey is a West Virginia musician known for his expressive performances and collaborations across folk, roots, and acoustic music traditions. His work draws from regional musical styles and emphasizes the shared storytelling traditions at the heart of Appalachian music. Monday, January 5, 2026 at 7 pm Opening performances: Abalos/Rauch/Namay, Ben Townsend, and Henri Colombat Abalos/Rauch/Namay is an improvising ensemble exploring spontaneous composition, sonic experimentation, and collaborative music-making. Their performances create evolving musical conversations shaped by listening, texture, and interaction. Ben Townsend is a West Virginia musician, educator, and multi-instrumentalist known for his work in Appalachian old-time music traditions. A fiddler, banjo player, and singer, Townsend combines deep knowledge of traditional repertoire with an expansive approach to collaboration and performance. Henri Colombat is a musician whose work explores creative approaches to sound, improvisation, and performance. Monday, February 9, 2026 at 7:30 pm Opening performances: The Weevils, Kid Kadian, and Mark Micchelli The Weevils are a West Virginia-based ensemble rooted in traditional and acoustic music, bringing together lively performance, collaboration, and community-centered music-making. Kid Kadian creates original music blending songwriting, experimentation, and contemporary influences. Their work explores personal expression through sound and performance. Mark Micchelli is a composer, pianist, scholar, and educator whose work bridges contemporary classical, jazz, experimental, and popular music practices. Monday, February 23, 2026 at 7 pm Opening performances: Andrew Kohn, David Taddie, and George Willis Kaija Saariaho (1952–2023) is noted for exploring the relationship between sound and noise. Her beautiful, atmospheric, ethereal Ciel étoilé (Starry Night, 1999) has sustained sounds that blend the clear pitch of the crotale with the complex sound of the cymbal, while the bass similarly sustains sounds that can be pure or noisy. The changing balances between the two players create fascinating shifts of color. Of Deep, Alex Shapiro writes: “I want truth and nakedness in my music; I want honesty. I want the listener to feel my heart and have their own stirred by what I offer in sound.” Deep was commissioned by Carolyn Beck, whose artistry inspired much of Shapiro’s bassoon writing. The work explores resonance, stillness, and the hidden depths beneath the surface. Originally composed in 2004, Shapiro prepared a version for double bass in 2025. This performance marked the premiere of the new version, dedicated to Andrew Kohn. David Taddie’s The “Dance” in the Place Congress reflects on the events surrounding January 6, 2021 and the language used to describe them. The piece was written for Taddie’s longtime friend, colleague, and collaborator Andrew Kohn. The “Dance” in the Place CongressIn New Orleans, Congo Square has long been a place associated with gatherings of music and dance. In some African cultures, music and dance are understood as inseparable parts of a single practice. Monday, March 2, 2026 at 7 pm Opening performances: Jason Zeh and Jake Sandridge Jake Sandridge presented an electronic work developed from field recordings, as well as new music for piano and electronics. Sandridge is a composer, educator, installation artist, and pianist. His interests lie primarily in experimenting with ways to incorporate interactive technology into sound, investigating ways in which sound and technology can create and strengthen community, and creating works that encourage audience and performer agency. Jason Zeh is an interdisciplinary artist whose work blends influences from long-time involvement in underground experimental music, noise, and sound art scenes with performance and realtime generative media. Zeh’s work grapples with the scraps at the edge of meaning: the noise and errors that exist in the margins of any message. His current body of work involves the creation of realtime, performable video objects built from lidar scans, resulting in visceral synthetic environments, minerals, and ritual actions. Monday, April 6, 2026 at 7 pm Opening performances: Big Ugly (Peyton Levi and Ethan Wilson), and Jim Truman Big Ugly is a Huntington-based duo featuring Peyton Levi and Ethan Wilson. Their music draws from Appalachian traditions while exploring new arrangements, original material, and the energy of live collaboration. Jim Truman is a local singer-songwriter whose work highlights storytelling, personal reflection, and the rich traditions of acoustic music. Through heartfelt songwriting and performance, Truman connects audiences through songs rooted in lived experience. Monday, May 4, 2026 at 7 pm Opening performances: The Long Short (Mason Atha and Claire Silbernagel), and Annick Odom The Long Short is a Morgantown-based duo featuring Mason Atha and Claire Silbernagel. Their performances combine thoughtful arrangements, close musical collaboration, and a shared interest in acoustic traditions. Annick Odom is a musician, composer, storyteller, and crankie artist whose work brings together Appalachian traditions, experimental approaches, and collaborative performance. A singer, fiddler, and songwriter, she explores the connections between music, place, memory, and community through concerts, workshops, and interdisciplinary projects. |
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