Jennifer Gersten / Bryan Day / Majid Araim & Layne Garrett

This evening at Rhizome DC brings together four artists working across experimental music, improvisation, instrument invention, and unusual approaches to sound. Violinist and writer Jennifer Gersten performs alongside sound artist Bryan Day, while multi-instrumentalist and composer Majid Araim shares a set with Washington-based improviser and instrument builder Layne Garrett.

Gersten, originally from Queens, is a former tenured tutti violinist with Sweden’s Helsingborg Symfoniorkester who now develops solo and collaborative projects in avant-garde and improvised music, primarily in the United States and Scandinavia. Her practice focuses on creating unconventional sounds and situations with the violin. She is also part of the experimental violin-and-bass duo Goal Weight and works as a curator and producer on projects involving large ensembles of string players. Her projects have been presented by organizations and festivals including MATA Festival, the Emily Harvey Foundation, and Darmstadt Ferienkurse.

Bryan Day is a San Francisco Bay Area sound artist, conceptual artist, and inventor of instruments. He constructs sound sculptures from scavenged electronics, repurposed mechanical parts, and amplified everyday materials. Since the late 1990s, he has made more than 100 devices, including amplified measuring tapes, modified radio transceivers, and electromechanical systems involving magnets, hard drives, and pendulums. His work encompasses electroacoustic improvisation, minimal drones, and audio collage, and he has performed, taught workshops, and installed sound works across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Majid Araim is an Iraqi-American multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator, curator, visual artist, and researcher associated with Atlanta’s improvisation and new-music communities. Their compositions explore resonance, dynamics, experimental methods, and relationships with the natural world. Araim’s long-running theatrical project *Otherwhere* imagines a parallel world inhabited by anthropomorphized animals and magical creatures, using themes of play, communication, observation, and ecological coexistence. Araim has also curated the Magic Lantern performance series since 2013, presenting more than 130 concerts.

Layne Garrett is a Washington, DC improvising musician and instrument builder whose work incorporates prepared guitars, found objects, and self-made instruments. Garrett performs with drummer Amanda Huron in the improvising duo Weed Tree and takes part in various ad hoc collaborations.

When: Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Schedule: Doors open at 6:30 PM; the show begins at 7:00 PM. The event listing runs through 10:30 PM.

Tickets: $15–$25

Lineup: Jennifer Gersten; Bryan Day; Majid Araim and Layne Garrett

Venue: Rhizome DC

Ages: Age restriction not provided

Accessibility: Accessibility information not provided

Run time: Not specified; the listed event window is 6:30 PM to 10:30 PM.