The Festival of New

This event celebrates the sonic possibilities of one of The New School’s oldest and most stunning spaces. Designed in the 1930s by legendary architect Joseph Urban, the auditorium (formerly called Tishman Auditorium) in Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall has served as the venue for notable lectures and performances including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1964 speech “The Summer of Our Discontent.” In a 2004 article, the New York Times described the auditorium as “one of the city's great modern interiors,” an “egg-shaped room [that] focuses on a broad, arched proscenium,” with a “delicate, layered ceiling” “painted in nine tones of gray.”

Contemporary sound artist Kabir Carter will evoke the architecture and history of this auditorium in performing a unique sound composition, using the space not simply as a site for performance but as an instrument to be played. Sound technicians who have worked at the auditorium over the years have been invited to participate in the performance. Afterward Caroline Dionne, assistant professor in the history and theory of design practice at Parsons School of Design, and Sreshtra Rit Premnath, director of Parsons' BFA Fine Arts program, will lead a discussion involving audience participation.