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ESYO ARTISTS JOIN THE WALTER THOMPSON ORCHESTRA RESIDENCY! 🙆‍♀️🎶

@strikeanywhere.nyc ensemble members Rolf Sturm @rolfgtr (Music Director) and @nolanjkennedy (certified Soundpainter and actor) are thrilled to participate in the Walter Thompson Orchestra’s Soundpainting Residency with the Empire State Youth Orchestra (@empirestateyo) CHIME program (Creating Harmony, Inspiring Musical Excellence)! CHIME provides free, daily after-school music education, instruments, and mentorship to young musicians across the Capital Region. This exciting musical adventure invites students to explore Soundpainting, the universal sign language for live composition with performers, led by its creator, @walterthompson.soundpainting. 🎻🥁🎺

JOIN US! The weeklong residency culminates in a FREE concert of “The Potluck Symphony” Friday, October 23, at 4:00 PM at GE Theatre at Proctors. Come celebrate the creativity and musical discoveries of these young artists! #linkinbio

📸: Leah DeLira, @empirestateyo

#ESYO #Soundpainting #StrikeAnywherePerformanceEnsemble #StrikeAnywhereEdu

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Spotted this season: an enviable beret full of sparkle 🖤✨

#LastNightatTheMet

Photo: @rcallahanphoto / @metopera

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The start of the school year is just around the corner—let’s bring your curriculum to life from day one!🎒

Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble pairs classroom teachers with professional teaching artists to co-teach dynamic, project-based K-12 arts residencies. We design and facilitate everything from multidisciplinary performance projects to active core-subject integration rooted in social-emotional learning.

We know how much heart you pour into your students. Let’s partner together to build a creative, inclusive classroom where they can truly flourish this year.

👉 Visit strikeanywhere.info right now to explore our bespoke residency options, or send us a DM / email at office@strikeanywhere.info to start planning!

#BackToSchool #ArtsinEducation #K12 #nycschools #strikeanywhereedu

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Out of office, into the woods!🌲🎭 The Strike Anywhere crew is officially on retreat in the Catskills this week, trading the city hustle for fresh air, deep training, and creative collaboration.

Since 2003, we’ve gathered every summer to sharpen our core skills and bond as an ensemble. This week, we are diving deep into research for our upcoming “POP UP: Tryon,” cooking up new ideas for “Tell Me Something,” Soundpainting together, and exploring the powerful links between our educational residencies and community performances.

Time to see what happens when inspiration strikes!⚡️
#StrikeAnywhere #CompanyRetreat #soundpainting #ensemblebonding #Catskills

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SOUNDPAINTING THINKTANK RECAP • DAY 6

Reflecting on the final day of the 28th International Soundpainting Thinktank! ✨ We closed out an incredible week by taking the art off the traditional stage and bringing live composition directly into the environment.

On Sunday, 7/12, the entire Thinktank cohort migrated together across the gorgeous @vassarcollege campus to witness each Lab project bring their site-specific compositions to life in real time. Afterward, our Site-Specific Lab participants gathered to debrief and unpack the full 3-part experiential journey. The day ended with games and an outdoor feast catered by @twistedsoulchef.

Thank you to all the international artists and collaborators who made this final day—and the entire week—so unforgettable. 🙆‍♀️💕

🎭 Hosted by @powerhouse_thtr at Vassar
📸 Photography by @bucklewisphotography

#SoundpaintingThinktank #VassarCollege #SiteSpecificArt #LiveComposition #StrikeAnywherePerformanceEnsemble

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SOUNDPAINTING THINKTANK RECAP • DAY 5 ✨🙆‍♀️

Saturday was a day of deep questions and exploration, culminating in a magical evening of soundpainting live onstage.

We started with an inspiring Q&A with Powerhouse students. The conversation quickly shifted into a generational exchange about how Soundpainting shapes our careers, creative lives, and artistic paths. Afterward, Claude Whipple led a fascinating discussion on alternative ways to introduce the language to actors and dancers, proving just how many doors open into this single practice.

Then, we got on our feet. Dividing into small groups, performers and Soundpainters dove into rehearsals in preparation for the closing concert that night. Together, they explored vocabulary, signs, and physicalities.

The climax of the night was the closing concert, “An Evening of Soundpainting.” Attendees experienced seven Soundpaintings, seven composers, and seven completely different worlds. Each piece was shaped by the unique voice of the composer and the choices made in the moment—ranging from lyrical and hilarious to angular and wild. One night. Seven compositions. Gone as soon as they happened, except for what we carry forward.

Composers: Drew Pattison, Andrea Ariel, Audrey Vallarino, Leese Walker, Tomi Tsunoda, Marie Angeles Cuevas, and Walter Thompson.

Hosted by @powerhouse_thr at @vassarcollege
📸 Photography by @bucklewisphotography
Video Editing by @novemberchristine

#Soundpainting #ThinkTank #VassarCollege #PowerhouseTheater #strikeanywhereperformanceensemble

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SOUNDPAINTING THINKTANK RECAP: DAY 4 🌱🎭

Day 4 at the International Soundpainting Thinktank at Vassar College was packed with bold ideas.⚡️

✨ HIGHLIGHTS:
• Evan Mazunik @emazunik explored a few Soundpainting signs to heighten an ensemble’s focus.
• Carina Dengler @echinacin (joining from Germany) shared how Soundpainting is empowering social workers in therapeutic practice.
• Nicole Poole @rogueokie led an inspiring session on Soundpainting with veterans, civic spaces, and community trust-building.
• @walterthompson.soundpainting welcomed young professionals in the Powerhouse Theater Training Program into his creative sandbox for live Soundpaintings.
• Tomi Tsunoda transformed plant biodata into live sound, inviting Soundpainters to perform with a potted plant as the soloist. 🌱
• Evan Mazunik and Gil Selinger @gilselinger offered an Intro to Conduction, another live composition sign language developed by Butch Morris.
• Sathya Socolovsky @soundpaintingar wrapped up the day with physical theatre and clown techniques for dynamic stage presence.

The day concluded with many Thinktank participants attending a presentation of “Godfriend,” a new play in development through the Powerhouse Theater’s professional residency program—a wonderful opportunity to experience another creative process unfolding alongside the Thinktank.

Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes moments from the 28th Annual Soundpainting Thinktank!

Hosted by @powerhouse_thtr at @vassarcollege
📸 Amanda Hinkle-Wallace @ahinklewallace

#Soundpainting #Thinktank #VassarCollege #InsideLook #StrikeAnywherePerformanceEnsemble

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SOUNDPAINTING THINKTANK RECAP: DAY 3 • Ingesting & Responding: Light, Site, Sound & Space ✨🙆‍♀️

Day 3 of the International Soundpainting Thinktank at Vassar College invited participants to slow down, observe, and respond.

🌿 Site-Specific Labs (Session 2): Led by @leesewalker and @andrea.ariel.dance, four groups returned to their outdoor sites to develop performance palettes inspired by the sounds, smells, architecture, and atmosphere of each location. These site-specific Soundpaintings would come to life on Sunday.

⚡ The Guerrilla Takeover: After celebrating the Powerhouse Training Program students’ Soundpainted performance, Thinktank participants surprised audiences with an impromptu flash performance spilling into the courtyard and outside the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center @theloeb. Unexpected, playful, and full of shared energy—it was a moment of genuine surprise and delight.

Follow along as we continue our recap series with more behind-the-scenes moments from the 28th Annual Soundpainting Thinktank.

Hosted by @powerhouse_thtr at @vassarcollege
📸 Photography by @bucklewisphotography & Amanda Hinkle-Wallace @ahinklewallace

#Soundpainting #Thinktank #VassarCollege #BehindTheScenes #sitespecific

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BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! We are absolutely thrilled to share that the Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble has been awarded a $40,000 Grant for Arts Projects from the National Endowment for the Arts @NEAarts!!! 🎭🚀

This funding will power our latest iteration of POP UP: An Artistic Treasure Hunt—conceived by @angelique.cormier and Strike Anywhere’s Artistic Director @leesewalker.

Strike Anywhere will be striking Tryon, North Carolina in June 2027 with this bespoke, community-reflective public art project! In partnership with the @tryonfineartscenter and local community partners, our multidisciplinary ensemble will devise a series of site-specific performances as an interactive artistic treasure hunt inspired by real interviews with local residents. So keep your eyes peeled as they “pop up” in storefronts, parks, and public spaces all across this beautiful mountain town! 🗺️ ✨

We’d like to extend a huge THANK YOU to the National Endowment for the Arts for their support and for continuing to champion vital community arts initiatives nationwide. We can’t wait to bring this project to life!

Head to www.strikeanywhere.nyc to learn how to bring POP UP to your community! 🙌❤️

📸: Rachel Warriner; POP UP Bethlehem, PA

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THINKTANK RECAP DAY 1: An Inside Look

✨ Day 1 at the 28th International Soundpainting Thinktank was all about getting curious. Hosted by @powerhouse_thtr at Vassar, Soundpainters from around the world came together to reconnect with the language, challenge old habits, and start building something new.

🌱 We kicked things off with Walter’s “Sandbox,” where Walter Thompson shared the stories and thinking behind the Soundpainting language, offering extra context on where key signs came from, how they’re used, and how to sign them with greater clarity.

💬 Then came Open Space where participants had the opportunity to propose additional sessions of interest to them. A session might explore new applications of Soundpainting, unpack specific signs, and continue conversations around the ideas that excited them most.

🧠 Audrey Vallarino’s “Inner Questions of a Soundpainter”deeply explored methods of composing, practicing, and preparing with ensembles of all types, while remaining true to the spirit of Soundpainting. (Interested? You can watch the livestream replay now ▶️ Link in bio!)

🎥🎛️ In “Creative Sampling,” Sam Harmet @prettymuchsamday introduced participants to using a sampler as part of a Soundpainting. Everyone recorded their own sounds on a mobile app, then brought those recordings into live compositions, discovering entirely new textures they could conduct and shape in real time.

🎭 Rafaële Arditti @rafaelearditti then flipped familiar habits on their heads, using creative constraints on body, voice, and speech to reveal new ways of performing, listening, and responding.

🚗 We ended the evening with Walter Thompson’s “Parking Lot,” where everyone reflected on the day’s discoveries, surfaced new questions, and helped shape what was still to come.

🚀 And that was only Day 1! Follow along as we continue taking you behind the scenes of this unforgettable week at @vassarcollege.

📸 Photo credit: Powerhouse Theater Season 2026. Photos/Vids by @ahinklewallace.

#Soundpainting #Thinktank #Day1 #Recap

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It all started with a toast. 🥂

On Monday, July 6, a cohort of nearly 50 Soundpainters from across the globe gathered at @vassarcollege, NY for the 28th International Soundpainting Thinktank. Despite the rainy weather, we kicked things off with a rousing Welcome Toast in The Aula at Vassar’s historic Ely Hall. Strike Anywhere’s Artistic Director @leesewalker and NYU Professor Tomi Tsunoda set the tone with opening words, and Soundpainting inventor @walterthompson.soundpainting broke the ice by soundpainting the entire group! 🙆‍♂️

It was joyful to see old friends – and exciting to bring new folks into the fold who had never attended a Thinktank or hadn’t attended since the gatherings were held in the U.S. from 1998-2009.

Stay tuned for more as we revisit the people, places, and performances that made this weeklong adventure so memorable!

Special thanks to @powerhouse_thtr Producing Directors @michael_t_sheehan and Edward Cheetham for making this event possible. 🫶

Photo credit: Powerhouse Theater Season 2026. Photography by @bucklewisphotography 📸

#Soundpainting #Thinktank #PowerhouseTheatre #VassarCollege #Improvisation

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Nearly 30 years into this work, I still have to stop and take it in.
This pic is at @powerhouse_thtr at @vassarcollege during the International Soundpainting Think Tank, surrounded by heavy-hitting artists, educators, and leaders from around the world, speaking with students about the growth of the language. My maestro, my brother, my inspiration, Walter Thompson, Soundpainting’s creator, is holding the gesture for “improvise.”

From NYC downtown jazz clubs elbowing our way into the scene, to seeing this language embraced in classrooms, theaters, and hallowed halls of learning around the world… man. What a wild, beautiful journey to have witnessed from the inside of what has become my creative home.

More photos and stories to come. For now, I’m still trying to take it all in.

Deep gratitude for this community, this evolving language, and the lifetime of listening it continues to ask of us.

Many thanks to Hassan @king_chops_ for the photo. #Soundpainting #livecomposition @soundpaintingcommunity

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