A Special Invitation
HARVESTWORKS INVITES YOU TO JOIN THE HARVESTWORKS SUSTAINING CIRCLE IN CELEBRATION OF CAROL PARKINSON’S 37 YEARS OF EXTRAORDINARY LEADERSHIP AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Our special guest, Henry Threadgill, a celebrated composer and saxophonist widely recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to avant-garde jazz and contemporary music, will perform an intimate solo flute composition.
This evening supports Harvestworks’ major initiatives and helps sustain the future of our programs. We hope you will join us to experience remarkable artistry while learning what lies ahead for our organization.
APRIL 25, 2026
6:00 PM
Brooklyn, NY
Following the Sustaining Circle reception, guests are warmly invited to join Carol Parkinson’s Retirement Celebration, featuring:
8:00 PM
Lori Napoleon
Live analogue synthesizer performance
8:30 PM
Screen Play by Christian Marclay
A video score in which found film footage is combined with computer animation to create a visual projection interpreted by live musicians. Performed by Elliott Sharp with Melvin Gibbs, Jim Thirlwell, Kalun Leung, and Judith Insell.
9:00 PM
Maria Chavez
Vinyl DJ set
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Henry Threadgill is a pioneering American composer, saxophonist, and flutist known for his innovative contributions to avant-garde jazz and contemporary music. Emerging from the creative music scene of Chicago and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Threadgill has spent decades developing a highly original musical language that blends improvisation, complex composition, and unconventional instrumentation.
In 2016, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his album In for a Penny, In for a Pound, becoming only the third jazz artist ever to receive the honor. His work has had a profound influence on contemporary composition and experimental jazz, and he continues to perform and compose internationally.
Lori Napoleon is a composer, electronic musician, and sound artist known for her work with analog synthesizers and experimental electronic music. Her practice explores immersive sonic environments, blending modular synthesis, improvisation, and layered electronic textures.
Napoleon has been active in New York’s experimental music community for decades, performing at venues, festivals, and media-arts spaces while developing a distinctive approach to live electronic performance. Her work bridges electronic composition and improvisation, emphasizing the tactile and expressive possibilities of analog sound synthesis.
Christian Marclay (b. 1955, San Rafael, California) is a New York–based visual artist and composer known for pioneering work that explores the relationship between sound and image. Raised in Geneva, Switzerland, where he studied at the École Supérieure d’Art Visuel, Marclay has been experimenting since the late 1970s with sampling, collage, and performance using vinyl records, film, and found media to create what he describes as a “theatre of found sound.”
As a musician he has collaborated with artists including John Zorn, Butch Morris, and Sonic Youth. His work has been exhibited internationally, including major presentations at Tate Modern, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the Venice Biennale. He is represented by Paula Cooper Gallery and White Cube.
Elliott Sharp is an influential composer, multi-instrumentalist, and performer whose work spans experimental music, jazz, contemporary classical, and electronic composition. Emerging from New York’s downtown music scene in the late 1970s, Sharp is known for integrating advanced compositional systems, improvisation, and innovative guitar techniques.
Over a career spanning more than four decades, he has composed for ensembles, orchestras, film, and multimedia projects while collaborating with artists across disciplines. His work has been presented internationally at major festivals and performance venues, and he remains a key figure in experimental and avant-garde music.
Maria Chavez is a sound artist, experimental turntablist, and curator known for her pioneering work in abstract turntablism. Her practice explores chance, sound collage, and improvisation, often using damaged or found vinyl records to create unpredictable sonic textures.
Chavez has performed internationally at major museums, festivals, and experimental music venues, and her work has been presented by institutions including the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum. Through performances, recordings, and writing, she continues to expand the possibilities of the turntable as an instrument within contemporary sound art.
We gratefully acknowledge Paula Cooper Gallery for generously loaning Screen Play by Christian Marclay.