Mia Zabelka & Elka Bong: USA Tour 2026
Image: Dario Nigredo
April 28 | 6:30 PM
TICKETS AVAILABLE IN DUE COURSE
Join us for an immersive evening of experimental sound art led by Austrian violinist, vocalist, and composer Mia Zabelka, whose radically open practice operates at the intersection of improvisation, composition, performance, and electroacoustic sound art. For this special tour date, Zabelka is joined by the U.S.-based experimental sound art duo Elka Bong (Al Margolis and Walter Wright), whose deep listening–based approach complements and expands her gestural, embodied sonic language. Working with acoustic and electric violin, voice, electronics, found objects, and noise-based materials, Zabelka’s method of automatic playing bypasses conscious control, allowing sound to emerge from reflex, memory, and physical impulse. In dialogue with Elka Bong’s attention to texture, space, silence, and sonic micro-events, the performance unfolds as a constantly shifting environment in which composed structures and open-ended improvisation coexist.
About the Event
Mia Zabelka’s work dissolves conventional boundaries between composition, improvisation, and performance, foregrounding sound as a physical, spatial, and bodily experience. Her performances evolve through real-time responsiveness, intense physical engagement, and the transformation of acoustic material through live electronics. The collaboration with Elka Bong introduces a complementary sensibility rooted in process-based sound art and conceptual listening practices. Elka Bong’s contribution resists fixed form, prioritizing attentive interaction over predetermined outcomes. Texture, density, silence, and sonic detail take precedence over narrative or melody, allowing sound to emerge through mutual responsiveness: To each other, to Zabelka’s gestural impulses, and to the space itself.
About the Artists
Mia Zabelka (AT) – violin, electric violin, voice, electronics, found objects, noise:
Mia Zabelka is internationally recognized as one of the most influential figures in contemporary electroacoustic and experimental music. Her radically open, transdisciplinary practice dissolves boundaries between composition, improvisation, performance, and sound art. Drawing on noise, drone, extended technique, and real-time electronic processing, she creates highly physical and immersive sonic environments. Zabelka has performed worldwide, collaborated with artists and ensembles such as Zeitkratzer and John Zorn, and was awarded the Austrian Art Prize for Music in 2021.
Elka Bong (USA) – Al Margolis & Walter Wright:
Elka Bong is an experimental sound art duo working at the intersection of improvisation, composition, and sonic indeterminacy. Their collaborative practice emphasizes deep listening, subtle interaction, and the exploration of sound as physical and spatial material. Through extended techniques, found sound, and analog and digital electronics, their performances unfold through attentive responsiveness rather than fixed form. Frequent collaborations with guest artists expand their sonic language through dialogue, contrast, and shared exploration.