NEW EAR ::

New Ear, Inc is a presenting organization dedicated to fostering experimentation in time-based media and interdisciplinary collaboration within a visual art context. Carrying on the spirit of risk-taking experimentation in downtown NYC, New Ear supports artists across artistic and cultural backgrounds, and at all stages of their careers with commissions and opportunities to present their work, residencies and workshops, mentorship, access to specialized equipment, and engineering support.

BOARD

Iliya Fridman
Galen Joseph-Hunter
Abigail Levine
Daniel Neumann

STAFF

Maxi Glenn | Production Manager
Lee Gilboa | Spatial:: Curator
Kaya Alberto Fridman | Design + Marketing

New Ear, Inc began in 2013 as a performance program, intermedia festival, and vinyl-record imprint at Fridman Gallery. Since incorporating in 2023, New Ear has developed three programmatic pillars: the annual New Ear Festival; New Ear::SPATIAL, a comprehensive presenting, educational, and artist service program for spatialized sound; and a program of performance and media installations integrated with Fridman Gallery’s exhibitions. 

New Ear’s programs have included such luminaries as David Tudor, Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Lucier, Simone Forti, Robert Whitman, Fred Moten, William Parker and outstanding younger performers Black Thought, Lesley Flanigan, Stephen Vitiello, Marina Rosenfeld, and Yvette Janine Jackson. 

New Ear::SPATIAL grew out of the program CT::SWaM, created by Daniel Neumann in 2012. The program has collaborated with Eyebeam, MoMA PS1 (Printshop), Spectrum, and The Knockdown Center, and Neu West Berlin, supporting hundreds of artists with rare access to spatialized sound equipment and technical expertise. In 2025, SPATIAL will support 20 new works selected from an open call. 

The annual New Ear Festival has presented genre-spanning artists over the last decade. A single evening from the 2023 festival is representative of the depth and variety of the program—a duo by composer Elliot Sharp and bass-blues improviser Eric Mingus, a set by Dreamcrusher & King Vision Ultra, followed by MORENXXX & Bronze Age, guest curated by Daniella Brito. In 2024, with support from New Music USA, New Ear initiated a new commissioning program. 

New Ear’s exhibition performance program is expanding rapidly. We integrate exhibition and performance calendars to promote dialogue between artists, across artistic disciplines, and amongst audiences. A model for this programming was the 2024 exhibit A Treatise on Color by curator-in-residence J.E. Azmi, pairing contemporary and historical artworks with performances by Mark Dresser, El Cid, and Nelson Bandela.

PROGRAMS

  • Eight-channel listening room and mixing studio
  • Four-channel video installation and screening room
  • Year-round program of concerts and presentations
  • Annual New Ear Festival of multi-disciplinary performance
  • Sound-engineering services
  • Residency for time-based artists
  • Documentation, mastering, record releases, publications

Funders

New Ear :: programming is made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature as well as individual donors — via WithFriends — who provide essential monthly support. Additionally, New Ear :: was supported by NewMusic USA’s Organization Fund, with support in part from Fifth House Ensemble and legacy contributions to the New MusicUSA endowment. Support for organizations based in New York State is provided in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor. Support for organizations based in New York City is provided in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and with support from the Howard Gilman Foundation.