UPCOMING EVENTS
RESIDENCY: MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Strike Anywhere Artistic Director Leese Walker has been invited to bring Soundpainting to Manhattan School of Music’s premier contemporary music ensemble, Tactus, in an intensive multi-week residency. Through a series of master classes, Leese will introduce first- and second-year master’s students to Soundpainting—the universal sign language for live composition—inviting these exceptional young musicians to explore improvisation, collaboration, and real-time creation. The residency will culminate in a 40-minute live performance with Tactus, which will also be live-streamed.
RESIDENCY: MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Strike Anywhere Artistic Director Leese Walker has been invited to bring Soundpainting to Manhattan School of Music’s premier contemporary music ensemble, Tactus, in an intensive multi-week residency. Through a series of master classes, Leese will introduce first- and second-year master’s students to Soundpainting—the universal sign language for live composition—inviting these exceptional young musicians to explore improvisation, collaboration, and real-time creation. The residency will culminate in a 40-minute live performance with Tactus, which will also be live-streamed.
RESIDENCY: MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Strike Anywhere Artistic Director Leese Walker has been invited to bring Soundpainting to Manhattan School of Music’s premier contemporary music ensemble, Tactus, in an intensive multi-week residency. Through a series of master classes, Leese will introduce first- and second-year master’s students to Soundpainting—the universal sign language for live composition—inviting these exceptional young musicians to explore improvisation, collaboration, and real-time creation. The residency will culminate in a 40-minute live performance with Tactus, which will also be live-streamed.
RESIDENCY: MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Strike Anywhere Artistic Director Leese Walker has been invited to bring Soundpainting to Manhattan School of Music’s premier contemporary music ensemble, Tactus, in an intensive multi-week residency. Through a series of master classes, Leese will introduce first- and second-year master’s students to Soundpainting—the universal sign language for live composition—inviting these exceptional young musicians to explore improvisation, collaboration, and real-time creation. The residency will culminate in a 40-minute live performance with Tactus, which will also be live-streamed.
CONCERT: MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Join Manhattan School of Music’s Tactus ensemble for a captivating evening of contemporary music, featuring an immersive Soundpainting performance created during their recent artist residency. This event marks the exciting debut of Tactus’s eight-concert season, showcasing explosive, structured improvisation where gestures become sound in real time.
RESIDENCY: EMPIRE STATE YOUTH ORCHESTRA WITH WALTER THOMPSON
Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble’s Artistic Director Leese Walker, Musical Director Rolf Sturm, and Ensemble member Nolan Kennedy will join composer and conductor Walter Thompson for a special residency hosted by the Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO).
Across five days, Strike Anywhere and Thompson—the creator of Soundpainting—will collaborate with ESYO musicians in rehearsals, workshops, and creative development. This residency highlights the Ensemble’s ongoing partnership with Thompson and offers ESYO’s young artists the chance to engage directly with his groundbreaking language for live composition.
TELL ME SOMETHING
TELL ME SOMETHING is an improv show like no other. Fueled by audience memories, photos, and stories, Strike Anywhere’s multitalented ensemble creates subtle, nuanced compositions that span a wide range of genres. These improvised performance pieces are sculpted through Soundpainting, the universal sign-language for live composition. Strike Anywhere is the preeminent Soundpainting ensemble in the U.S. and has performed and taught in over 200 venues in 16 states and 8 countries.
Featuring: Leese Walker (Soundpainter), Nolan Kennedy (Soundpainter/Actor), Crystal Marie Alberson (Actor), Anel Carmona (Actor), Laurie Churba (Live Costumes & Installations), Bry Payne (Dancer), Vimal Pradeep (Dancer), Tara Khozein (Vocalist), Rolf Sturm (Guitar), Michel Gentile (Flute), Leo Martinez (Bass)
Hosted by drag sensation Vanity LaVain!
TELL ME SOMETHING
TELL ME SOMETHING is an improv show like no other. Fueled by audience memories, photos, and stories, Strike Anywhere’s multitalented ensemble creates subtle, nuanced compositions that span a wide range of genres. These improvised performance pieces are sculpted through Soundpainting, the universal sign-language for live composition. Strike Anywhere is the preeminent Soundpainting ensemble in the U.S. and has performed and taught in over 200 venues in 16 states and 8 countries.
Featuring: Leese Walker (Soundpainter), Nolan Kennedy (Soundpainter/Actor), Crystal Marie Alberson (Actor), Anel Carmona (Actor), Laurie Churba (Live Costumes & Installations), Bry Payne (Dancer), Vimal Pradeep (Dancer), Tara Khozein (Vocalist), Rolf Sturm (Guitar), Michel Gentile (Flute), Leo Martinez (Bass)
Hosted by drag sensation Vanity LaVain!
TELL ME SOMETHING
TELL ME SOMETHING is an improv show like no other. Fueled by audience memories, photos, and stories, Strike Anywhere’s multitalented ensemble creates subtle, nuanced compositions that span a wide range of genres. These improvised performance pieces are sculpted through Soundpainting, the universal sign-language for live composition. Strike Anywhere is the preeminent Soundpainting ensemble in the U.S. and has performed and taught in over 200 venues in 16 states and 8 countries.
Featuring: Leese Walker (Soundpainter), Nolan Kennedy (Soundpainter/Actor), Crystal Marie Alberson (Actor), Anel Carmona (Actor), Laurie Churba (Live Costumes & Installations), Bry Payne (Dancer), Vimal Pradeep (Dancer), Tara Khozein (Vocalist), Rolf Sturm (Guitar), Michel Gentile (Flute), Leo Martinez (Bass)
Hosted by drag sensation Vanity LaVain!
POP UP: TRYON, NC - INTERVIEWS
Strike Anywhere is setting up its POP UP interview lounge at several spots around Tryon, NC this week! Locals, come on by and share a story. Strike Anywhere is collecting dreams, memories, secrets, rumors, and anecdotes. The company is building a treasure hunt of short performances set to POP UP June 12-13, 2026 throughout Tryon.
Stop by for a flash interview. Your story just might inspire a song, scene or dance!
POP UP: TRYON, NC - WORKSHOPS
Strike Anywhere will be hosting workshops in Tryon, North Carolina in April 2027 as a precursor to POP UP: An Artistic Treasure Hunt. Community members invited to participate. FREE.
POP UP: TRYON, NC - RESIDENCY
Strike Anywhere will be striking in Tryon, North Carolina in June 2027 with POP UP: An Artistic Treasure Hunt. In partnership with the Tryon Fine Arts Center 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.
POP UP: TRYON, NC - PERFORMANCES
Strike Anywhere will be striking in Tryon, North Carolina in June 2027 with POP UP: An Artistic Treasure Hunt. In partnership with the Tryon Fine Arts Center 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.
POP UP transforms an ordinary neighborhood into an unfolding work of art. Armed with a hand-drawn map and a trail of intriguing clues, audiences embark on a walkable journey to discover a series of site-specific performances—music, theater, dance, and sound—springing up in streets, shops, parks, and unexpected corners. Each performance is inspired by real stories gathered from local residents during our artist residencies, creating a vibrant, community-rooted portrait of place. Part scavenger hunt, part festival, and part neighborhood love letter, POP UP invites audiences to see their surroundings with fresh eyes.
A creative placemaking project, POP UP is tailor-made for each community. By weaving the dreams, impressions, and experiences of local residents into everyday spaces, it transforms familiar streets into shared works of art. Free Soundpainting workshops invite residents into the creative process, culminating in a finale where community members perform alongside the professional ensemble—celebrating local diversity and our shared humanity.
POP UP was conceived by Leese Walker (Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble, USA) and Angélique Cormier (Tours Soundpainting Orchestra, France).
COMPANY SUMMER RETREAT
Strike Anywhere has been gathering every summer for a weeklong company retreat since 2003. The time allows the ensemble to train together on core skills, compose new material, rehearse and bond in a beautiful setting away from the hustle of city life. This year’s focus will be research/background work for “POP UP: Tryon”, entertaining new ideas for “Tell Me Something” and examining the connectivity and shared methodology between our educational residencies and our community-based performances.
International Soundpainting Thinktank
The 28th International Soundpainting Think Tank will be held July 6-13 at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY
Tell Me Something
Improv! 🎭 Live Music! 🎶 Drag! 💃🏽
TELL ME SOMETHING is an improv show like no other. Fueled by audience memories, photos, and stories, Strike Anywhere’s multitalented ensemble creates subtle, nuanced compositions that span a wide range of genres. These improvised performance pieces are sculpted through Soundpainting, the universal sign-language for live composition. Strike Anywhere is the preeminent Soundpainting ensemble in the U.S. and has performed and taught in over 200 venues in 16 states and 8 countries.
Hosted by drag sensation Vanity LaVain!
Windows and Mirrors
Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble is back at Roton Middle School for a second year to deliver Windows and Mirrors, a storytelling and performance intensive. Thanks to our partner The Arthur Miller Foundation.
Customized Residency
Strike Anywhere is thrilled to continue our partnership with the All City Leadership Secondary School. This year, we are working with the school’s 6th and 7th-grade ELA classes. Curriculum comes alive through interactive theatre and performance.
Windows and Mirrors through Poetry
Strike Anywhere returns to the International High School for Health Sciences in Spring 2026, for a Windows and Mirrors storytelling residency with 12th Grade ELA students, with a poetry twist.
BLOOM: Spring Soirée
Join us at the iconic New York Times Building, celebrating 28 years of Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble! The night will be in full bloom with live music, interactive soundpainting, games, raffles, artmaking and other surprises.
Your support helps nurture our work, our artists, and the bold creative ideas that make it all possible.
Brooklyn Borough Arts Festival
Strike Anywhere artists Anel, Susanna, and Amanda will co-lead three Ensemble Building: Storytelling and Improv workshops for arts students at the Brooklyn Borough Arts Festival.
10 Tiny Dances
Featuring SA alumnus Donna Bouthillier (2005–2018), alongside Strike Anywhere’s Leese Walker, Rolf Sturm, and Michel Gentile, this evening reunites longtime collaborators and dear members of the Strike Anywhere community for a shared celebration of movement, memory, and connection.
Co-produced by Connecticut College and Ten Tiny Dances
Soundpainting Master Class
Strike Anywhere artists Leese, Anel, and Rolf will co-lead a master class on Soundpainting for 5th grade theatre stuents in Norwalk, CT. Thanks to our partners, the Arthur Miller Foundation for this opportunity.
Acting Master Class
Leese and Susanna will co-lead an acting and vocal techniques master class or high school students in New Haven, CT. Thanks to our partners the Arthur Miller Foundation.
Tell Me Something
Improv! 🎭 Live Music! 🎶 Drag! 💃🏽
TELL ME SOMETHING is an improv show like no other. Fueled by audience memories, photos, and stories, Strike Anywhere’s multitalented ensemble creates subtle, nuanced compositions that span a wide range of genres. These improvised performance pieces are sculpted through Soundpainting, the universal sign-language for live composition. Strike Anywhere is the preeminent Soundpainting ensemble in the U.S. and has performed and taught in over 200 venues in 16 states and 8 countries.
Hosted by drag sensation Vanity LaVain!
Puppetry + Storytelling at PS 6
PS 6 Puppet-making and Storytelling residency with first and second graders is underway, led by Teaching Artist Carrie Ellman-Larson.
Windows and Mirrors through Poetry
A spring 2026 collaboration with all ELA students and teachers at Fort Greene Prep Academy, will connect poetry and storytelling to performance, giving students the tools to analyze text, make embodied choices, and share their work with confidence.
Lycée Français de New York Devising
Lycée Français theatre and devising residency is underway with two theatre classes, led by Strike Anywhere Artistic Director, Leese Walker.
Tell Me Something
Improv! 🎭 Live Music! 🎶 Drag! 💃🏽
TELL ME SOMETHING is an improv show like no other. Fueled by audience memories, photos, and stories, Strike Anywhere’s multitalented ensemble creates subtle, nuanced compositions that span a wide range of genres. These improvised performance pieces are sculpted through Soundpainting, the universal sign-language for live composition. Strike Anywhere is the preeminent Soundpainting ensemble in the U.S. and has performed and taught in over 200 venues in 16 states and 8 countries.
Featuring: Leese Walker (Soundpainter), Nolan Kennedy (soundpainter/actor), Crystal Marie Alberson (actor), Anel Carmona (actor), Laurie Churba (sewing machine), Bry Payne (dancer), Vimal Pradeep (dancer), Tara Khozein (vocalist), Rolf Sturm (guitar), Michel Gentile (flute), Leo Martinez (bass)
Hosted by drag sensation Vanity LaVain!
Art 4 Community
Online drawing class , Sunday Jan 25, 3-5PM Central / 4-6 PM EST. Via Zoom - Join here https://tinyurl.com/Art4Community
Soundpainting Intensive
Certified Multidisciplinary Soundpainter Leese Walker will facilitate a Soundpainting Intensive at Oberlin College. Hosted by Oberlin Bassoon Professor Drew Pattison.
APAP Conference NYC
Strike Anywhere’s Artistic Director Leese Walker and Education Director Amanda Hinkle-Wallace will attend the 2026 APAP Conference in New York City — the premier gathering of performing arts professionals from around the world, dedicated to networking, professional development, and showcasing groundbreaking work in the field.
Then and Now at JKO High School
Then and Now was a research-based playmaking project in which students interviewed elders and transformed oral histories into scenes, monologues, digital storybooks, and portraits. Guided by a professional playwright and teaching artist, Anel Carmona, students developed skills in theme identification, scriptwriting, acting, basic directing, and peer critique. Collaboration with the art department culminated in a multimedia digital storybook that wove together writing, imagery, and photography, honoring the cultural narratives of JKO families. A culminating celebration united the JKO community in an intergenerational sharing of stories and artistic work.
The program was supported by the NYC Public Schools Arts Office Arts Partnership Grant, expanding access to arts learning for students with disabilities, English as a New Language learners, and general education students, with additional partnership support from Roundabout Theatre Company Education.
Tell Me Something
Grab a brew, settle in for some laughs and join the Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble at The Rat for an evening of improv, live music, and drag—all rolled into one unforgettable show. Our multitalented ensemble will animate your stories, photos, gestures, and more, live through soundpainting!
Hosted by the enchanting Vanity LaVain!
Soundpainting Intro Workshop
Certified Multidisciplinary Soundpainter Leese Walker and several other SA ensemble members will facilitate an Introductory Soundpainting Workshop at Hook and Eye PlayLab.
Lycée Français 90th Anniversary Celebration
As a part of the Lycée Français 90th Anniversary Show, Strike Anywhere will perform 4 site-specific soundpaintings inspired by alumni stories.
Classroom Engagement Master Class
Circle in the Sqaure Theatrs School’s Teaching Artist Training presents Leese Walker of Strike Anywhere, leading a two-hour master class on classroom engagement.
Rob Henke Tribute Concert
Honoring the Life and Legacy of Rob Henke We invite all friends, family, and fans to join us in remembering and celebrating the life of our beloved Rob Henke — a brilliant musician, a kind soul, and a cherished member of our community.
Let us gather to share memories, music, and the joyful spirit that Rob brought into all our lives. All are welcome.
NYCPS Arts Office: Brooklyn South Theatre Teachers Professional Development
Strike Anywhere’s Professional Sessions lead educators through scaffolded, interdisciplinary workshops that model active curriculum development and share turn-key activities ready for the classroom. Rooted in arts integration, SEL, and culturally responsive practice, these sessions equip teachers with replicable tools in improvisation, design, physical theatre, and Soundpainting to spark collaboration and build dynamic, student-centered learning environments.
Goals include fostering collaboration, ensemble-building, and deepening connections through theater, improvisation, storytelling and Soundpainting.
Tell Me Something
Grab a brew, settle in for some laughs and join the Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble at The Rat for an evening of improv, live music, and drag—all rolled into one unforgettable show. Our multitalented ensemble will animate your stories, photos, gestures, and more, live through soundpainting!
Hosted by the enchanting Vanity LaVain!
FESTUS
All are invited to FESTUS, a joyful, hands-on theatrical experience from Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble, the nation's leading Soundpainting ensemble.
In this live, in-the-moment “lab,” your contributions are the inspiration for a 45–50 minute performance using Soundpainting, the universal multidisciplinary sign language for composing in real time.
Annual Company Retreat
The Strike Anywhere Ensemble will be taking its annual development retreat in the Catskills to devise a new soundpainting performance, FESTUS, to be performed free to the public that weekend. The company will also take time to bond over s'mores, swimming and lawn games!