To the faithful, the faithless, the starless wanderers… We are honored to announce our newest round of Funded Artists to join the fold. We are sharing our Church Elders' picks from Q1 of 2025. These span genres, energies and localities. These artists truly define our mission of supporting Adventurous Music!

ALEX KOI

(nominated by Summer Krinsky)

Alex Koi is a vocalist, composer/producer, and improvising musician. Her music is the mystical translation between the privacy of her inner world and the somatic extrication of such. Through polyphonic narrative, ecstatic release, and coy murmurs, she bends between her diverse musical influences in Jazz and improvised music, the avant-garde, and electronic music. She has had the privilege of collaborating with musicians, composers, visual artists, directors and dancers at venues such as Lincoln Center, the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Joe's Pub, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival, Public Records, and more. She recently played the combined role of Tracy Dunn/Jillian Gilchrist in the Off-Broadway production of "Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower", Toshi Reagon's theatrical adaptation of the beloved novel.

Website 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MELINDA RICE

Melinda Rice is a Pennsylvania based string player. The Church of Noise grant will go the following:

The Limerick Generating plant’s two nuclear reactors provide energy for nearly two million homes in Montgomery County, PA. In this project, I compose and perform on violin with the test sirens that sound every six months. I have completed two performances solo so far, on December 4, 2023, and June 5, 2023, in Foy Park, a public spot by the river and across the road from the local pizza place and bar. The composition was created with openness for reaction to the siren, and is entirely dependent on the time that the siren is scheduled to play: 2pm.

The audience has been residents coming out to hear the siren framed with music.
In the first iteration, I played for about 30 minutes, and timed my performance so that the two minute siren sounded in the middle. After that experience, the next iteration was in December and it was cold, so my performance was only 10 minutes long, and I developed the piece of music so that the rhythmic material was able to change in reaction to the siren.
 
The siren is the widest, most encompassing sound that I have ever had the pleasure to make music with. Its pitch can change based on environmental factors like the wind. Even standing in a different place inside the park, the siren’s pitch can appear to change. 

Audience members have commented in a few ways on the experience. One comment is that the siren sounds differently in the park than when they are at home. Another comment is that they never thought of the sound of the siren before, even though they heard it. This is the first time they focused on the sound and noticed it.

Website