ABOUT

Art and food are central to human existence. Soup combines ingredients in a fluid medium with relationships in constant flux. Soup is a collective expression of flavor and nourishment. Boundaries dissolve, individual identities blend yet maintain distinction. Soup creates community, gives warmth.

The same is true for music.

Originally a house concert series, Soup & Sound now presents performances around Brooklyn, around NYC, and occasionally internationally. During the pandemic we commissioned artists to make video instead of live performance—leading to the Soup & Sound Online vimeo page—and now we present live performances in community gardens, libraries, in community centers, bookstores, and restaurants and bars, in addition to our house. We have co-presented with and at Lincoln Center on several occasions.

Over the course of approximately 200 events centering on music, with visual media, dance, writing, and humanities discussions nearly all of our events have been accompanied by a big pot of homemade soup. Guests often contribute food or drink. It is part concert, part party, part celebration of humanity. The vibe is great and it’s a great way to hear, perform, and share a collective experience.

Soup & Sound has presented hundreds of great artists, well-known and not well-known, award winners and teens, including Howard Johnson, Jay Clayton, Agustí Fernandez, Jaap Blonck, Satoko Fujii, Kristin Norderval, Warren Smith, Biliana Voutchkova, Pheeroan akLaff, Seungmin Cha, Anne Laberge, Kris Davis, Tomeka Reid, Joe McPhee, Shelley Hirsch, Robert Dick, Isabelle Duthoit, Steve Swell, Joseph Daley, Fay Victor, Bonita Oliver, Marty Ehrlich, Erica Hunt, Matthew Shipp, and many more.

Soup & Sound arose from a confluence of forces. For years Andrew Drury’s house had been a New York cross-roads and base for traveling musicians. Music flowed through the floors and doors, in private sessions, recordings, and rehearsals, mostly in the basement. 

In 2008 three great improvisers--Michel Doneda from Toulouse, Leonel Kaplan from Buenos Aires, and Tatsuya Nakatani from Japan/Pennsylvania--happened to all be staying at the house at once for a long weekend, and such a convivial atmosphere prevailed, with food, drink, and conversation in abundance, but no performance…it felt like an international music festival but there was no performance and no audience. What a shame that the wider New York music community wasn’t able to partake.

About a year later we knocked down walls to open up the main floor. With enough space to invite an audience we did the first one in November, 2009, nine months went by, we did a second, six months went by, and then the third. After that they started happening more often. For our first 5 years the space was spartan--with peeling paint, water stains on the ceiling, a few holes in walls. But from the start the music and the vibe were unsurpassed and it was clear Soup & Sound was here to stay. In 2014 the gift of a Steinway L grand piano led us to knock down more walls, and while we were at it to paint, clean, remodel, and fix up everything.

The house concert, and events combining music and food, date back to caves and runs through countless villages, castles, salons, rent parties. Several participants in New York’s Loft Scene have pointed out the connection between that scene and Soup & Sound. 

As we expand into new areas, the central components--music, food, and artist-direction--remain and provide a meaningful alternative to venues and institutions based on alcohol sales, exploitation, or bureaucracy. Soup & Sound provides dignified presentation of the artist and their work, a model for the integration of art and daily life, and a casual environment in which audience members and performers can interact as equals.