Winter 2024

Update on winter events:

I have some music playing in an installation by Raphaele Shirley in NYC opening 6 March at the Sylvia Wald & Po Kim Gallery. The show is open through 18 May 2024.

Here is Raphaele’s announcement of the opening:

Raphaele Shirley writes:

It’s almost show time @waldkimgallery . Upcoming “ Time is Light “ I’m exhibiting with @annafrants and @alexandradementi opening this coming March 6 from 6-8pm 417 lafayette street 2nd floor .

On my side “ 3 tone ephemeral” with original soundscape created with Rhys Chatham. Integrated into the piece his most elevated “Crimson Grail (G200)“ performed with approx 200 live guitarists at the Basilique Sacre Coeur of Paris in 2005 . For 3 tone ephemeral Rhys responds to “Crimson Grail” and to the receptacle of my light sculpture by creating recordings of himself playing solo flute, guitar and trumpet .

Rhys’ solos play in each light cube in lieu of his own presence, hence almost in person, separated by a few wavelengths of light .. Within the space of these transtemporal sounds the visuals resonate with frames of color. The mutual dynamics creating an echo chamber for the senses.

3 tone ephemeral was originally conceived as live performance element for 3by3by3 with Rhys and GH Hovagimyan.

Big thank you to Harvestworks for their generous support for the development of this idea. Thanks to waldkimgallery and odelettecho for the support and beautiful venue and opportunity to give this concept a physical presence.

Click here for WalkKim Gallery website


Solo concert @ La Mécanique Ondulatoire -Paris, FRANCE

We had a great time last night at La Mécanique Ondulatoire. I did a solo followed by Abstract Concrete (with Charles Hayward and Agathe Max amoung others).

Here are some photos of the show taken by my friend Sebastien Greppo:

This show took place on Saturday, 3 February 2024 to a packed house. It was the premier of a new set for me on (of course), electric guitar, alto and C transversal flutes, and (get this!) I crooned for the final movement of the set to the pounding rhythms of electronic dance music in a tribute to my beloved vocal master, La Monte Young.

Here are some more pictures from the evening by Isabelle Forestier:

To book this set, don’t hesitate to contact us at either Tippex Agency or rhyschathamnewsàyahoo.fr

Spring 2023

The Fields Festival, formerly of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, had to move (for obvious reasons), and now they are in Belgrade.

I’ll be playing G3 there in June, this is an early announcement. I’ll update it soon with a link to their website.

Also in June, we’ll be mounting G3 at Art Basel 2023. We’ll be performing the piece with Robert Longo’s film, Pictures for Music, and Robert and I will be playing amoung the guitarists. We will be doing this within a huge outdoor Messeplatz installation by Latifa Echakhch. I’ll be posting more details on this and who the other players will be in the coming weeks.

In addition to G3, I have a new solo that I recently performed at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in the context of a No Wave show curated by Nicolas Ballet last February. I also did the solo concert in a more intimate setting at the Chair de Poule bar in Paris. Here is a short clip of the concert to give you an idea of its sound:

Rhys Chatham solo at Chair de Poule – 24 February 2023

I’m available this summer to play this solo or to mount G3. To contact me for booking write to me at rhyschathamnews@gmail.com

Winter 2023

I’m totally psyched to play G3 at the Invisible Wind Factory in Liverpool!

(update: 15 March – Liverpool is having a Covid outbreak, unfortunately, the concert has been put on hold due to almost the entire staff of the the Invisible Wind Factory as well as some of the band members testing positive. )

It’s on Saturday, 18 March. Doors open at 7PM. For tickets and further information,
click here. (Concert cancelled due to Covid).

Here is the lineup of who will be playing:

On electric guitar:
– Michael Coates
– Stephen Cole
– Rhys Chatham
– Rhys Davies
– Anna Kunz
– Luce Mawdsley
– Sam Warren
– Claire Welles

On electric bass: Clara Cicely

On drums: Joel Murray


On Friday 24 February, 9PMI’m scheduled to play the full solo in an intimate location in Paris, at the Chair de Poule bar. Details to be announced on this page soon. Also an upcoming concert in the UK in March, soon to be announced.

Chair De Poule  141 Rue Saint-Maur, 75011 Paris – Friday, 24 February 9 PM

Rhys Chatham Solo 2023

Après sa belle performance au Centre Pompidou dans le cadre du vernissage de l’exposition ” Who You Staring At? Culture visuelle de la scène no wave des années 1970 et 1980 “, Rhys Chatham foulera avec majesté le sol brisé du Chair De Poule vendredi 24 février à 21h. Il nous plongera dans un espace immersif 🛁au moyen d’un tout nouveau solo pour guitare électrique avec accordage pythagoricien, trompette, flûtes et sons électroniques.
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
Jauge limitée à 45 personnes!! Entrée prix libre (prix conseillé 10 euros) Merci de réserver sur cette publication, sur la page de l’évènement facebook ou via la messagerie du Chair de Poule. ✌
photo: Sye Rynski


I seem to be making a habit of playing at art openings, this week I’ll be at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in the context of an exhibition on the No Wave scene in New York entitled ” Who are you staring at ? ” The opening is on Wednesday 01 February at 7pm. I go on around 8pm.

I’ll be presenting an excerpt from my new solo for transverse flutes (alto and C) and eletric guitar.

The exhibition will include art, posters, books and video by/on Kathy Acker, Ida Applebroog, Karole Armitage/me, Beth B and Scott B, Glenn Branca/Dan Graham, Vivienne Dick, Barbara Ess, Joseph Nechvatal, Raymond Pettibon and sound excerpts from Arto Lindsay, Live Skull, Sonic Youth and more.

There will be an excerpt playing continuously from XS, an opera by Joseph Nechvatal with music from yours truly.

For details on the exhibition, click here.

The opening was a success! It was well attended and a grand time was had by all. The artist Chrystel Egal was at the performance and made a little film to document it:

If you are interested in booking the new solo (or any of my other projects), you can contact me directly here. Or at my booking agency, Julie Tippex Arts and Music.

Summer 2022

As always, I am doing my yearly migration to the south of France in a little hamlet in the Pyrenees, not far from Perpignan. I have my music studio set up, where I work amoung the mountains, trees and dramatic sky!

I have been working on a new solo for live instruments and electronics. Here is a seven minute piece I made here recently for trumpet:

This new solo program can be anywhere from 20-minutes to an hour of music and optional visual elements, featuring me playing electric guitar, trumpet, flutes and live electronics..

Here is a quick sample of the guitar sound I’m currently working on in the context of the new solo:


If you are interested in booking the new solo (or any of my other projects), you can contact me directly here. Or at my booking agency, Julie Tippex Arts and Music.