What is the Audio & Performance Lab?
UnionDocs is thrilled to launch the Audio & Performance Lab (APL), an exploratory new program in which a cohort of sound-based artists from an expansive spectrum of disciplines will collaboratively develop an original collection of bold performative short works designed to be presented and experienced together with a live audience. Expanding beyond the confines of your headphones, the APL will engage a community in shared physical space, charged with generative new vibrations.
We’re inviting 12 participants – artists whose practice might be rooted in sound design, oral history, music, audio documentary, field recording, live performance, experimental spatial audio, or a whole host of other aural-adjacent traditions – to work together from a blank canvas through the conception, production, and staging of a slate of new sound explorations. From September through December, with guidance and inspiration from a community of experienced mentors, visiting artists, and like-minded peers, participants in the APL will hone, rehearse, and ultimately premiere their work for an in-person audience in the Lab’s culminating live performance.
APL Shape & Structure
Participants in the Audio & Performance Lab will gather twice a week – Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons – at UnionDocs’ space in Ridgewood, Queens with the goal of creating a collection of 6-8 sound-focused performance pieces to be premiered for a live audience at the end of the program. As participants work together on their own time – conceiving, recording, editing, mixing, and staging their pieces – our regular meetings offer structural scaffolding, facilitated feedback, curated sources of inspiration, and a supportive community to help bring these projects into being.
Through an initial month-long research and ideation period, culminating in a comprehensive pitching process, the cohort will develop their projects, with each piece helmed collaboratively by a team of 3-4 participants taking on distinct creative roles.
Through weekly Production Meetings on Wednesday evenings, the program’s experienced team of Mentors, speaking from their own distinct and varied artistic practices, will offer guidance and feedback around participants’ latest findings, recordings, setbacks, and next steps. Meanwhile, Sunday sessions will introduce participants to a diverse lineup of artists, each of whom will speak to a unique creative practice in sound or live performance. joining the cohort for free-flowing discussions driven by the group’s curiosity.
In the program’s final few weeks, participants will workshop their pieces out loud, rehearsing and refining their work in the space together. Finally, in mid-December, the projects will take the stage in the Lab’s culminating live performance!
Where do we meet?
All of our meetings will take place here at UnionDocs HQ in Ridgewood, Queens. We’ll gather twice a week in our space, and you’ll also have the opportunity to join us for the weekly public events, screenings, and conversations that we host here.
Please note: while we’ve offered residency options in the past, due to ongoing building renovations, the participants in this year’s program will be required to have their own housing in NYC.
The Audio & Performance Lab will offer…
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A stellar lineup of 9 Guest Artists from a variety of backgrounds to offer insight into their work and practice
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Regular Research and Production Meetings facilitated by UNDO staff to offer guidance and input.
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Feedback and support from a small circle of experienced artist Mentors
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Structured deadlines, and a framework to help advance your creative goals
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The chance to debut a collectively produced sound-focused performance for a live audience
Dates & Deadlines
September 10th – December 17th, 2025
The Audio & Performance Lab!
May 31st, 2025
Applications Open
June 19th, 2025
11am ET
Information Session
June 29th, 2025
11:59pm ET
Early Deadline (No Application Fee)
July 27th, 2025
11:59pm ET
Final Deadline ($15 Application Fee)
Early August
Applicant Interviews
August 8th, 2025
Applicant Notifications
Program Costs
Program Fee
$2000 ($500 deposit is due upon acceptance; remaining balance will be due at the start of the program)
Scholarship & Crowdfunding
UnionDocs is able to offer a limited amount of funding to support applicants with a demonstrable need for financial assistance. Applicants interested in this possibility should indicate in their application, though it will have no impact on their review.
A private crowdfunding platform at donate.uniondocs.org is also available to accepted applicants, where they can accept tax deductible donations to offset their program fees.
Weekly Program Schedule at UnionDocs
Wednesdays from 6-9pm
Research & Production Meetings
Sundays from 3-5pm
Artist Visits
Participation Requirements
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We estimate the program will require around 10–15 hours each week.
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There will be 2 meetings per week, scheduled on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons, with production taking place on your own time.
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Twice throughout the program, participants will gather to present work and receive feedback in a group critique setting.
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The program will culminate in a live performance, held in mid-December.
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Applicants should have a solid grasp on the basic fundamentals of audio recording and editing.
Past Guests
Benjamen Walker
Pejk Malinovski
Kristen Meinzer
Eleanor MacDowell
Sayre Quevedo
N’jeri Eaton
Maggie Taylor
Avery Trufelman
Kaitlin Prest
Andrew Leland
Cher Vincent
Lisa Chow
Ann Heppermann
Nick Van Der Kolk
Kara Oehler
Sharon Mashihi
Jorge Just
Sean Cole
Emmanuele Berry
John DeLore
Axel Kacoutié
Martina Castro
Joe Richman
Lu Olkowski
Mira Burt-Wintonick
Andy Chugg
Rikke Houd
Ariana Martinez
James T. Green
CC Paschal
Carter Conley
Isaac Kestenbaum
Alex Overington
Brittany Luse
Ike Sriskandarajah
Aisha Turner
Chloe Prasinos
Olivia Bradley-Skill
Megan Tan
Sruthi Pinnamaneni
Michelle Macklem
Laura Mayer
Mitra Kaboli
Julia Lowrie Henderson
Eleanor Kagan
Leila Day
Pat Walters
Sarah Geis
Crystal Duhaime
Josie Holtzman
Sean Rameswaram
Diane Wu
Alex Goldman
Adriene Lilly
Mooj Zadie
Jonathan Goldstein
Andy Chugg
Stephanie Kariuki
Carl Nellis
Harry Nelson
Corinne Gilliard Fisher
& many more
Explore some of UnionDocs Audio Related Programming on the UnionDocs Membership
Hear from Past Participants about their projects…
Watch Highlights from Past Live Productions
APL Support
Christopher Allen
FOUNDER / EXECUTIVE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Christopher Allen is Founder/ Artistic Director of UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art in Brooklyn. The projects he has initiated, including Living Los Sures, Documenting Mythologies, Capitol of Punk and Yellow Arrow, have united hundreds of artists, documentarians and communities. He collaborates on live performances, such as Say Something Bunny! with artist A.S.M. Kobayashi.
Jenny Miller
CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Jenny has worked as a producer/editor/organizer dedicated to community arts programming with a penchant for nonfiction for the past 12 years, working with a variety of cultural and community spaces—big and small— before finding home in the mighty DIY Spirit at UNDO. She brings curiosity, care, and a strong political stake in bolstering local arts communities through collaborative practice, open dialogue and diverse programming to her work here which spans across all threads of programming. She received a B.A. in English + Cinema Studies from Oberlin College with an interdisciplinary approach to her studies which centered documentary arts, artists’ books, pop culture and DIY publishing / exhibition practices.
Scott Limbacher
PRODUCER OF LABS
Scott Limbacher is a non-fiction film producer, archival researcher, and organizer. He recently served as an associate producer on the feature documentaries The Hottest August and Bulletproof for Walking Productions. Scott is currently based in Brooklyn, on unceded Lenape land, where he has lived for about a decade.
A.S.M. Kobayashi
SPECIAL PROJECTS
Kobayashi’s collection of found objects inspire her videos, performances, installations and drawings. Her award-winning, multi-disciplinary work has been exhibited internationally at galleries and film festivals. She is University of Toronto graduate, a 2016 Yaddo and MacDowell Colony fellow.
