Kalia Vandever / I hate performing alone (Emily Francisco & Alex Tyson) / niki afsar

Kalia Vandever, the acclaimed trombonist and composer praised by AllMusic as “a master musician and composer” and “a singular talent,” headlines a concert at Rhizome DC that also features the duo I hate performing alone (Emily Francisco and Alex Tyson) and interdisciplinary artist niki afsar. Vandever’s distinctive approach to the trombone is defined by a sonorous tone, lyrical voicing, and a patience that guides melody, with a compositional scope ranging from palatial modern jazz (including quartet work with guitarist Mary Halvorson) to synthetic, gauze-like droning ambience in solo material. Recognized by NPR as part of the “new class of jazz artists pushing the music forward,” Vandever has released albums including In Bloom (2019), Regrowth (2022), Another View (2025), the solo album We Fell In Turn (2023), and the recent solo record Mana on International Anthem, which features solo trombone filtered through a pedalboard, spare piano, and deeply personal lyricism. After attending Juilliard, they have toured internationally both solo and with their quartet and performed as a side-person with artists ranging from Shabaka, Joel Ross, and Immanuel Wilkins to Harry Styles, Japanese Breakfast, and Moses Sumney. The evening opens with a set by I hate performing alone: Emily Francisco—a Washington DC-based artist and educator whose work has been reviewed by Hackaday, The Washington Post, and Hyperallergic, and who is a five-time Janet and Walter Sondheim Award semi-finalist—and Alex Tyson, a DC-based artist and musician who has been a featured artist at SXSW and recipient of an Andy Warhol Foundation grant. Following them, niki afsar—a nonbinary/femme Iranian-American writer and interdisciplinary artist—will present work exploring fluidity, longing, language, hybrid identities, and mental health through devised movement, poetry, live singing with a vocal loop machine, sound collaging, and mirror work.

When: Sunday, June 14, 2026.
Showtimes: Doors at 6:30 PM, show at 7:00 PM.
Tickets: Sliding scale $15.00–$25.00; with all fees the actual cost is $17.19–$27.75. Pay what you can within that range. Rhizome DC members receive a discount.
Lineup: Kalia Vandever (headliner); opening set by I hate performing alone (Emily Francisco and Alex Tyson); also performing is niki afsar.
Run time: Not specified.
Ages: Not indicated.
Venue: Rhizome DC, 6950 Maple St NW, Washington, DC.
Note: Tickets are sliding scale (see price tiers); you can also contribute an additional amount or become a Rhizome DC member for discounted tickets and other benefits. The event is listed as having ended on the page, but the scheduled date is June 14, 2026.