EWB

pt.fwd presents NCHS Experimental Ensemble ft. Edward Breitweiser
2022-05-13 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | McLean County Museum of History, 200 N. East St., Bloomington, IL, 61701, United States
On Friday, May 13 at 7:00 p.m., pt.fwd and the McLean County Museum of History are pleased to co-host the debut performance of Bloomington-Normal’s most exciting new music group, the Normal Community High School Experimental Ensemble, with special guest Edward Breitweiser. The event will be presented in the Museum’s first floor rotunda, and is free and open to the public.
The Ensemble is lead by Stefen Robinson and Zachary Sargent, both teachers at NCHS who also perform with the group. Eleven students make up the group, and together with their teachers, they “make adventurous music….” Student members include Matthew Beigie on cello, Cooper Jeb on piano, Lilly McClelland on bass guitar and trumpet, Ibrahim Muftee on electric guitar, John Nguyen on electric mandolin, Stefani Nguyen on bells and harmonium, Ram Paramatmuni on radio and record player, Audrie Schuller on violin, and Krishiv Sreejith on flute. Robinson performs on bass clarinet and percussion, and Sargent plays alto saxophone.
Selections for the performance will include Otomo Yoshihide’s arrangement of Eric Dolphy’s “Serene”, and their own arrangement of “Early Grave” by The Contortionist. The program will conclude with their arrangement of Curtis Mayfield’s “Think”. In between those songs, improvisations by smaller groups within the larger ensemble will be featured.
Illinois-based artist, musician, and writer Edward Breitweiser will be joining the Ensemble as a guest artist, performing on synthesizer and electronics.

NON:op + pt.fwd present "Six Words" (world premier)
2022-06-24 19:00 - 21:00 | McLean County Museum of History, 200 N. East St., Bloomington, IL, 61701, United States
On Friday, June 24 at 7:00 p.m., NON:op Open Opera Works, pt.fwd, and the McLean County Museum of History are pleased to co-host the premier performance Six Words, a newly-commissioned musical work by Edward Breitweiser. The event will be presented at the Museum, and is free and open to the public.
Using archival research, community dialogue, and collaborative music-making, Six Words will engage directly with Central Illinois residents to reflect on our collective experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. Six Words will take the McLean County Museum of History’s COVID-19: The McLean County Experience as a starting point to ask local residents about their pandemic experiences, and to preserve them for future generations.
Breitweiser will collaborate with local non-profits and youth organizations—including the McLean county Museum of History and pt.fwd—to create a communal space for telling and hearing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Bloomington-Normal area. These diverse experiences will be shared in a concert-length public performance at the Museum of History, featuring music and words by area residents who contributed to the project.

Loose & Big Bright Karl @ nightshop
2022-08-07 19:30 - 21:00 | nightshop, 517 N. Main St., Bloomington, IL, 61701, United States

Tatsu Aoki, Yea Big, Matthew Smith, and Edward Breitweiser @ Cometogetherspace
2022-08-27 19:00 - 21:00 | Cometogetherspace, 212 N Roosevelt Ave, Bloomington, IL, 61701, United States

Yea Big, James Mauck, Briar Darling, Edward Breitweiser: Solo & Quartet @ The Rec Club
2022-11-05 19:00 - 21:00 | The Recreation Club, 117 N. Market St., Urbana, IL, 61820, United States

Dronesgiving 2022
2022-11-26 19:00 - 21:00 | Cometogetherspace, 212 N Roosevelt Ave, Bloomington, IL, 61701, United States

Big Bright Karl & The Labrarians: Live at Cometogetherspace
2023-01-28 19:00 - 21:00 | Cometogetherspace, 212 N Roosevelt Ave, Bloomington, IL, 61701, United States

Big Bright Karl Fire @ Make Music Normal (Normal, IL)
2023-06-25 18:00 | IL
🌐 Midwest tour dates! 🌐
To celebrate the launch of No Below Editions , we’re hitting the road!
No Below co-founders Stephen Holliger (Swim Ignorant Fire), Edward Breitweiser, and Stefen Robinson (Yea Big) will be coming to a city near you! After a quartet set with Michael Carlson (Son-of-Karl) at Make Music Normal festival on Friday, 6/24, we’ll be swinging through Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri. We hope to see you on the road! 👋
6.24 Normal, IL @ Make Music Normal
Breitweiser + Swim Ignorant Fire + Yea Big + Son-of-Karl, performing in a quartet as “Big Bright Karl Fire”
6.25 Oak Park, IL @ Compound Yellow
Breitweiser, Swim Ignorant Fire, Allen Moore
6.26 Iowa City, IA @ Public Space One
Breitweiser, Swim Ignorant Fire, Haunter, birdlabs
6.28 Dubuque, IA @ Monk’s Kaffee Pub
Breitweiser, Swim Ignorant Fire, Lather, Bob Bucko, ILYGH, Brutal Shift
6.29 Madison, WI @ Common Sage
Breitweiser, Swim Ignorant Fire, Eric Miller
6.30 Rock Island, IL @ Rozz Tox
Breitweiser, Swim Ignorant Fire + Yea Big, Lazy Hex
7.01 St. Louis, MO @ Pop’s Blue Moon
Breitweiser, Swim Ignorant Fire + Yea Big, Negative Spaces & Freaky Steve
7.02 Columbia, MO @ PDM
Breitweiser, Swim Ignorant Fire + Yea Big, Full Clips Emptied @emptiedclips
7.03 Champaign, IL @ Rose Bowl Tavern
Breitweiser + Swim Ignorant Fire + Yea Big + Jason Finkelman. Presented by The Improvisers Exchange.
Come say hi! See you soon! 🗺️

Edward Breitweiser 2023 Summer Tour
2023-07-08 08:00 - 17:00 | IL

No Below Editions album release show
2024-02-16 19:00 - 20:00 | Illinois Arts Station, 101 E. Vernon Ave, Normal, IL, 61701, United States

Edward Breitweiser at Beluga Press Gallery
2024-04-14 12:00 - 15:00 | Beluga Press Gallery, 313 N. Main St., Bloomington, IL, 61701, United States

Slow Dog album release at Tritriangle
2024-04-26 20:00 - 21:00 | Tritriangle, Chicago
Slow Dog is a fun new project by me and my bb Swim Ignorant Fire. When we were on tour supporting his album with the No Below Editions
crew last year, we kept talking about a stripped-down, raw style reflecting the minimal, drone, ambient, and country music we’d been absorbing on the road. Then, we were waiting to play in Madison, WI and witnessed the slowest dog we’d ever seen. And the rest is history.
We’ll be in Chicago at Tritriangle on Friday, April 27 for an album release party with many friends. Hope to see you there! 🐶
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Long ago, a dog was so slow that the world had no choice but to stop and wait. That dog is still walking, unafraid of the path ahead. When he howls, charred drones and snarling textures growl back.
Slow Dog is Stephen Holliger (synthesizers) and Edward Breitweiser (synthesizers and electronics). No leashes, no masters.
———–
(Howls at the moon)
@breachingstaticmedia and @nobelow.editions present a night of murky noise exploration and wonder in Chicago. Featuring artists from both labels at TriTriangle.
This will be our first performance celebrating the release and we hope to see you there!
🔺️ FRI_APR_26 🔺️
Slow Dog 🐕 @_slow_dog__
duo of @swimignorantfire and @ed.breitweiser album release
Brutal Shift (IA)
Alex from Boar, new dark ambient project.
Ghouls Teeth
@rushfalknor duo with release available on breaching static.
Yea Big + Tatsu Aoki
@stefenrobinson and @basserlive have their first duo album coming out on FPE Records this May. @fperecs
🔺️
Friday
April 26th
8pm
$10_15
Reposted from @_slow_dog__

2024 Ecotonus Midwest tour
2024-12-14 19:00 - 21:00 | IL
ECOTONUS
a new composition by Edward Breitweiser
for ARP-2500 synthesizers and computer
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
Sunday, 11/17. St. Louis, MO at Synoptic Frequencies with Maria Chavez + Christopher Douthitt
Saturday, 11/23. Bloomington, IL at pt.fwd with Christopher Douthitt + Gabe Raines + Oxherding
Saturday, 12/14. Chicago, IL at Elastic Arts with Choir Siren + Liz Flood + Hunter Whitaker-Morrow
ABOUT
Using the works of pioneering French composer Éliane Radigue (b. 1932) as a point of departure, Ecotonus draws from improvisations that I recorded on the ARP-2500 that was custom-built in 1971 for the Electronic Music & Recording Studio at Washington University. The 2500 was Radigue’s primary instrument and is known for its uniquely noisy “matrix switch” design, which can result in quirky, unstable interaction between sounds. While improvising, I sought simple sounds that would behave unpredictably and evolve into unexpected complexity through the beauty of this rare machine.
Drawing inspiration from Radigue’s concept of “music-as-transition” and the water-based, self-scaling structure of her OCCAM series of compositions, Ecotonus (from the word “ecotone”, a transitional area between two ecosystems) follows the transitions between two recently-discovered features throughout the Universe: the “gravitational basins of attraction” that draw matter together similarly to water systems on Earth and their counterpart, the empty, foam-like voids that remain after matter is gone. These two dynamics – filament and void – ultimately structure all matter in the Universe, enabling life to form (and, much later, to discover these dynamics among the cosmos).
BIO
Edward Breitweiser is an Illinois-based artist, musician, electronic instrument builder, and writer who creates moments of sonic life. Spanning improvised and composed music, electronic instrument design, installations, and non-profit administration, Breitweiser’s projects embrace the contrasts between ecology and technology, solo and collective, clarity and density, DIY and infrastructure, stasis and surprise, simplicity and complexity. Breitweiser founded and serves as Director of pt.fwd, a contemporary music and sonic arts performance series featuring new work by local and regional artists in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois.
🌐 www.edwardbreitweiser.com 🌐

2025.07.25 - Common Sage (Madison, WI)
2025-07-25 19:00 - 21:00 | Common Sage, 934 Drake St., Madison, WI, United States
Friday, 7/25
@commonsagearts in Madison, WI
I’ll be premiering “Pulse Canons”, a new composition for clock pulses and oscillators, in quad! Digital sounds in medieval forms in surround sound – don’t miss it!
My buddy @avoidancepolicy and I will be opening for @jeremyroyalblahblah during his US tour – always nice to see these guys!

2025.07.26 - Reverberation Vinyl (Bloomington, IL)
2025-07-26 19:00 - 21:00 | Reverberation Vinyl, 1302 N Main St, Bloomington, IL, United States
Saturday, 7/26
@reverberationvinyl in Bloomington, IL
@_slow_dog__ will debut some seriously solid new tunes on a ssssstttttaaaaaccccckkkkkkeeeeeddddd bill of Midwestern heavy hitters. Furious Neighbor (of Rapider Than Horsepower, Racebannon, etc), Brutal Shift (@alexikcawon) from @breachingstaticmedia, and Yea Big (@stefenrobinson ) will change you for the better.
Become the person you always knew you could be – see you out there! ❤️

pt.fwd presents Danz CM
2026-03-27 18:00 - 19:30 | University Galleries, 11 Uptown Circle #103, Normal, IL, 61761, United States
About the event

Danz CM is the self-produced musician, songwriter, and composer formerly known as Computer Magic whose belovedSynth History zine has reinforced her DIY all-star status.
MYTHS, the new cryptic ambient manifestation by Danz CM, is out now via Channel 9 Records. It’s a sweeping, cinematic universe of waves that feels both timeless and otherworldly.
MYTHS is a true feat of craftsmanship — recorded using the expressive power of synth instruments like the legendary CS-80 and original Mellotron, Danz creates a lush and ethereal world, channeling the spirit of classic electronic composers like Vangelis. Recorded live and engineered by Lance Hill of the Vintage Synthesizer Museum in Los Angeles, mixed by Michael Stein (Stranger Things) and mastered by Heba Kadry (Björk, Ryuichi Sakamoto).
The titles of each track are inspired by mythological creatures: The Koromodako of the sea (Japan), the Dökkálfar who have eyes like the moon and dwell underground (Norse), and the tutelary deity of the forest, Leshy (Slavic).
Late last year, Danz CM released LÄRM!, which Hearing Things called “instrumental electronic music with vivid scene-setting and a patient sense of narrative, delivered with warm vintage hardware tones.” It pays homage to 1970s Krautrock bands like Cluster, Can, Neü, and Harmonia, seamlessly fusing synth improvisations, hypnotic rhythms, and dream-like vocals. While clearly indebted to those forebears, Danz also taps into their form-breaking spirit, finding fresh folds and imbuing these otherworldly compositions with her singular touch.
Danz CM will be a 2026 David B. Williams Visiting Artist in the School of Creative Technologies at Illinois State University. This concert is generously supported by the David and Kay Williams Music Education Endowment.
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All pt.fwd concerts are free and open to the public.
pt.fwd is an independent, artist-run 501c3 non-profit that organizes contemporary music and sonic arts performances in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois.
pt.fwd’s mission is to celebrate the communal experience of coming together to listen to powerful new sonic art. In partnership with the McLean County Museum of History and other local venues, pt.fwd promotes new work by local and regional artists in a historic, acoustically curious setting.

www.ptfwd.org

No Below Editions presents PHLEGMPHEST
2026-03-28 13:00 - 22:00 | Meltdown Creative Works, 716 E. Empire, Bloomington, IL, 61701, United States
Phlegm Phest is back! Our first attempt was snowed out. This time it is all happening.

We’re celebrating the No Below Editions compilation of radical local artists, Creme de la Phlegm! And we’re doing it at Meltdown!!!

Here’s the lineup:
Rebekah ManglesCreatian/HeapMMDRNotteAnonymous PiperlighttJohn GanserTommy O’DonnellSecret AmuletNolanSweet Nothings
!!!

Doors at 12:30, music starts at 1:00 sharp.
$10 (kids 10 and under are free)

ALL AGES

JOIN US!!! (We love you)

No Below Editions presents Tongue+Groove
2026-04-24 20:00 - 22:00 | ROZZ-TOX, 2108 3rd Ave, Rock Island, IL, 61201, United States
BIG BRIGHT KARL FIRE
https://yeabig.weebly.com/
https://edwardbreitweiser.com/
https://swimignorantfire.bandcamp.com/
Big Bright Karl Fire is the sonic melding of Yea Big, Edward Breitweiser, Michael Carlson, and Swim Ignorant Fire. Big Bright Karl Fire is synths meeting winds meeting guitars meeting percussion, calm meeting frenzy meeting strategic accidents meeting accidental beauty.
CREATIAN/HEAP
https://bummerpunkrecords.bandcamp.com/album/i-c
Philip T. Walker & JJ Creatian playing ominous electronics on an array of synths & effects. They’ve released 3 albums together, most recently “I C” in 2024.
​
NOLAN
​
Polymath, genre-bending multi-instrumentalist and artistic multi-disciplinarian whose work blurs the line between composition and experimentation. Operating at the intersection of generative systems and live improvisation, each performance fuses controlled, evolving chaos with sprawling, immersive soundscapes into singular live performances.
~~~~~~~~
Tongue+Groove
Lisa Lofgren in collaboration with Matt Erickson
Catich Gallery, St. Ambrose University
March 23–April 24

Exhibition Statement
Tongue+Groove culls through artists Lisa Lofgren’s and Matt Erickson’s archive of shared studios, shared conversations, and shared lives over the last 15 years. Collaboration will loosely be defined as there are many degrees by which the artists work together: “stealing” each other’s works for revisions or additions; grouping individually made works together; or making work side by side.
Matt states, “I found my positive. This show is a collaboration in Love, Relationship, Art, Life or as I feel it – all the same thing. Working with a past and present, hers and mine, we assembled these pieces in our shared spaces as they happened. A show or gallery, to me, is no time factor. I let art happen as it wants and that is what you see here. In the grand sense they are all in progress; so are we.”
Lisa’s interest in the readymade is heavily influenced by Matt’s studio practice. Her primary medium of printmaking (works on paper) is now playing a secondary role to the constructions in which they are incorporated. The use of wood working and joinery pays tribute to evolving home renovations in their 1854 building. The use of mortise and tenon, tongue and groove, dovetail and finger joints are a direct analogy to the body, the whole made by equal yet opposite parts, and the strength of the bond.
A closing reception will include conversation with Lisa and Matt on April 24 from 4-6 p.m. followed by a No Below Editions performance at Rozz-Tox Cafe starting at 8 p.m. ($10 door, 2108 3rd Ave, Rock Island, IL 61201).
Artists’ Biographies
Lisa Lofgren (she/her) is the founder of Together Press, a community printmaking and papermaking facility in coordination with cometogetherspace in Bloomington, Illinois. She graduated from the University of Wyoming with a BFA and an MFA from Illinois State University, where she has served as Registrar and Office Coordinator since 2018. Her work has been collected locally and internationally including private collections with family, friends, acquaintances, and institutions primarily in Wyoming, Illinois, and Minnesota.
Based in Bloomington-Normal, Matt Erickson is an uninstitutionalized artist with 40 years of purposeful study of art as life. He trusts his intuition, has a great admiration for the joker/rebel artist, and gives his art away. Matt’s motto is to put what fits, where it fits, when it fits.
Both artists are part of the No Below Editions record label collective established Fall of 2022 in support of local and regional sonic explorations with a focus on small editions of handmade objects with each release. (no-below-editions.bandcamp.com)

pt.fwd presents NCHS Experimental Ensemble
2026-05-09 18:30 - 20:30 | McLean County Museum of History, 200 N. East St., Bloomington, IL, 61701, United States
Time & Location

May 09, 2026, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Bloomington, 200 N Main St, Bloomington, IL 61701, USA

About the event

Since 2021, the Normal Community High School Experimental Ensemble has provided students with the opportunity to learn about and perform a variety of musical and sonic traditions, including free improvisation, electroacoustic performance, and sound installations.
Students will play arrangements of American classics and improvisations with faculty members Stefen Robinson and Zachary Sargent and guest artists.
~~~~~~
All pt.fwd concerts are free and open to the public.
pt.fwd is an independent, artist-run 501c3 non-profit that organizes contemporary music and sonic arts performances in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois.
pt.fwd’s mission is to celebrate the communal experience of coming together to listen to powerful new sonic art. In partnership with the McLean County Museum of History and other local venues, pt.fwd promotes new work by local and regional artists in a historic, acoustically curious setting.
www.ptfwd.org
