BIOMES Album by Katherine Young to Release on Chaikin Records
The release features collaborations with Olivia Block, Ben LaMar Gay, Brian Chase, Tim Daisy, and YARN/WIRE.
Composer, improviser, and sound artist Katherine Young is set to release a new album, BIOMES, on Chaikin Records. The record brings together three works - BIOMES 6.0, BIOMES 8.1, and BIOMES 7.4 - developed as part of an ongoing, speculative study of natural ecosystems. The album features contributions from electronicist Olivia Block, multi-instrumentalist Ben LaMar Gay, percussionists Brian Chase and Tim Daisy, and the piano-percussion quartet YARN/WIRE, with a special-edition chapbook accompanying the CD.
Out September 18, 2026 on Chaikin Records
On Friday, September 18, 2026, composer, improviser, and sound artist Katherine Young releases BIOMES on Chaikin Records (CKR 021). The album gathers three works speculatively investigating a diverse range of natural ecosystems – BIOMES 6.0, BIOMES 8.1, and BIOMES 7.4 – created for and alongside electronicist Olivia Block, multi-instrumentalist Ben LaMar Gay, percussionists Brian Chase and Tim Daisy, and the piano-percussion quartet Yarn/Wire. The CD is accompanied by a special-edition chapbook.
BIOMES is an ongoing project that draws on an evolving collection of materials – photographs, scientific and fictional texts, notation, field recordings, videos, drawings, maps, and more – organized in relation to specific ecological communities, among them desert, wetlands, forest, oyster reef, and the human microbiome. Each biome carries its own characteristics that shape the music's timbre and density, as well as the interaction strategies Young weaves among performers.
After many years working within the improvised and new music communities in New York City and Chicago, Young settled in Atlanta, Georgia in 2020, exploring urban woodlands while studying writers including Octavia Butler, David Haskell, N. K. Jemisin, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Ursula K. Le Guin, Rebecca Solnit, and Peter Wohlleben. The project reflects Young's relationships with all three cities and their respective music communities, echoing the commonalities and stark differences between these ecosystems.
Album Release Concert at Brooklyn's Roulette Intermedium
Thursday, September 17, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Tickets: roulette.org/event/biomes-album-release-katherine-young
An album release concert is scheduled to take place at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn ahead of the release.