TOPOS 2026
September 2–5, 2026
Wednesday- Be the Media! 5PM
- Black Atlas 7PM
- Defiant Life 7PM
- Paris Syndrome 9PM
- Community BBQ Noon
- Improv Spaces presents:
Rock City Falls Trio, Sun Dogs 2PM - The Strangeness of Drumming 4PM
- A Page of Madness 7PM
Tickets on sale: June 15, 2026
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What does music know about us that we don't yet know about ourselves?
It shapes the rhythm of our days, bends our perspectives, and gives form to the stories we carry. The rituals we return to, both ordinary and transcendent, pulse with the emotional frequency of sound. At a moment when the world feels especially lonely and fractured, gathering together to listen intently may be one of the most radical acts available to us.
The shape of music reflects the shape of our lives. In the contour of our narratives, the grain of our voices, the recursive and ever-unfolding stages of personal and communal becoming, our lives take on the form of song. As Schopenhauer wrote, “Music is the melody to which the world is the text.”
TOPOS 2026 is a space where audiences and artists converge to communicate the ineffable. Across performances, live podcasts, film screenings, and conversation, the festival creates occasions for deepened listening and critical encounters: music as a means of articulating that which resists articulation.
Featuring Vijay Iyer, Wadada Leo Smith, Miho Hatori, Edward George, Paul Abbott, IMA, Rock City Falls Trio (Improv Spaces), Sun Dogs (Improv Spaces), Fred Moten, and The Silent Light—TOPOS 2026 brings together different forms of music, not as genres but as provocative sites of experience.
Every presentation is a way into our own stories and of those around us, asking: do these stories have the potential to help us collectively reimagine new, and perhaps better, possible futures?
Schedule
- WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
- 5PM, Sanctuary for Independent Media
- WORKSHOP
- BE THE MEDIA! WORKSHOP / Edward George
- 7PM, Sanctuary for Independent Media
- SCREENING, TALK
- BLACK ATLAS / Edward George and Fred Moten
- Both Wednesday events take place at the Sanctuary for Independent Media in North Troy.
- THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
- 6PM, Studio 2
- TALK, PERFORMANCE
- THE STRANGENESS OF JAZZ / Edward George
- 9PM, Studio 1—Goodman
- PERFORMANCE
- そして花びらは燃え、華が咲く AND THE PETALS BURST INTO FLAMES... / IMA
- FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4
- 7PM, Concert Hall
- PERFORMANCE
- DEFIANT LIFE / Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith
- 9PM, Theater
- PERFORMANCE
- PARIS SYNDROME / MIHO HATORI, with Michiko Ogawa and Dan Peck
- SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
- 12–1:30PM, Main Entrance, East Plaza
- BBQ, FREE
- Brooks’ bbq / sound house records / Community BBQ
- 2PM, Concert Hall
- PERFORMANCE
- IMPROV SPACES / Rock City Falls Trio, Sun Dogs
- 4PM, Studio 1—Goodman
- PERFORMANCE
- THE STRANGENESS OF DRUMMING / Paul Abbott and Edward George
- 7PM, Theater
- SCREENING, PERFORMANCE
- A PAGE OF MADNESS / The Silent Light
Festival Passes
Festival passes / individual tickets go on sale June 15
- TICKETS$50 / All-access festival pass / $20 reduced rate pass for RPI students.
- TICKETS$20 / Single event tickets available:
- Seating for all events and ticket types is first come, first served.
Evelyn’s Café Hours
Evelyn’s Café is open throughout TOPOS as a place to gather between performances and connect with artists, audiences, and festival guests. A selection of light fare, including prepackaged sandwiches, sushi, snacks, coffee, bottled beverages, beer, and wine, will be available for purchase.
- Thursday, 7:30–9:30PM, café service, light fare, cash bar
- Friday, 6–9:30PM, café service, light fare, cash bar
- Saturday, 5–7PM, catered reception and cash bar. The reception will feature a selection of hors d'oeuvres and light refreshments, with beer and wine available for purchase.
TOPOS 2026 is presented by EMPAC. EMPAC is made possible by RPI. EMPAC’s programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
TOPOS 2026 partners are iEAR Presents, and Improv Spaces. Special thanks to Brooks’ BBQ, Sound House Records, and The Sanctuary for Independent Media.
![A black and white photograph of two musicians, [l-r] a guitarist and drummer, performing beneath a large screen on which a celebrated frame from Fritz Lang’s silent film Metropolis is projected.](/sites/default/files/styles/640x427_cropped/public/2026-05/topos_the-silent-light_artist-photo_michael-formanski_2026.jpg.webp?itok=Lxe8iLii)
