Performance: Alex Koi & Kirin McElwain with D. Jean-Baptiste & Anna Johnson

Alex Koi & Kirin McElwain with D. Jean-Baptiste & Anna Johnson

September 5, 2025

7:00-9:00pm

Doors at 6:30pm

Tickets:

$10 Student – use code STUDENT at checkout

(Valid Student ID will be requested at the door)

$10 IMSS Members Presale – use code IMSSMEMBER at checkout

(Valid IMSS Membership card will be requested at door)

$15 GA Presale

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$15 Student & IMSS Members (With valid ID & Membership Card) at Door

$20 GA at Door

Duo Alex Koi x Kirin McElwain perform original music for voice, cello, electronics and modular synthesizer. Hailing from the New York avant-garde music scene, their music floats between musical poetry, composition and improvisation. They’ve performed with the likes of Trevor Dunn , This Will Destroy You, Shara Nova, and Post Malone to name a few.

Having just recorded their debut album “Wake” in NYC with engineer Randall Dunn , this evening performance hosted by IMSS marks the project’s first engagement in Chicago. They will be joined by Chicago’s own experimental musicians Anna Johnson and D. Jean-Baptiste, each performing a set of original music.

Duo Alex Koi x Kirin McElwain perform original music for voice, cello and modular synthesizer. Hailing from the New York avant-garde music scene, their music floats between musical poetry, composition and improvisation. For fans of Laurie Anderson, Arthur Russell, and Meredith Monk.

D Jean-Baptiste is an electro-acoustic musician blending samples, structured songwriting, and improvisation cohesively and intentionally.

Anna Johnson’s hypnotic, devotional sonic landscapes are drawn from explorations of voice and electroacoustic instrumentation. Her sound weaves medieval-influenced vocal melodies, chants, and choral layering with synthesizer atmospheres, heavy drone textures, and forays into experimental pop. She relies on improvisation, with a meandering, fluid sense of embodied time.