Improv Spaces

Founded on principles of collectivity, experimentation, and deep interdisciplinary collaboration, Improv Spaces fosters community through risk-taking performance and creative exchange. The organization is a platform for musicians across New York’s Capital and Saratoga regions, supporting improvisation as both an artistic practice and a social form.

For TOPOS 2026, Improv Spaces presents two ensembles working at the intersection of experimental music, jazz, and exploratory sound practice: Rock City Falls Trio and Sun Dogs.

Rock City Falls Trio is Alex Chang (harp), Jason Handron (bass), and Adam Forman (drums). The trio integrates jazz language, classical technique, experimental sound practices, and indie-influenced atmospheres into a hybrid musical voice. Moving between composed structures and open improvisation, they emphasize collaborative listening, textural exploration, and cross-genre expression.

Sun Dogs, the sci-fi jazz duo of Dominique Vuvan (accordion, electronics) and Adam Tinkle (woodwinds, electronics), approaches improvisation through speculative and immersive sonic worlds. Vuvan is a psychologist whose research focuses on the neuroscience of music. Tinkle is a multi-instrumentalist and multimedia artist. Together in Sun Dogs, they explore the outer reaches of music. Their debut album, The Solstice Concert, is a semi-improvisational suite of soundscapes, harmonic territories, and synthesizer textures, where hypnotic moon bells, fractured field recordings, and shifting tonal environments open spaces for both play and deep listening.

Their back-to-back sets ask us: How can improvisation create new ways of listening, relating, and imagining together?

Event details:
- Date: Saturday, September 5, 2026
- Time: 2:00 PM
- Duration: 70 minutes
- Doors open: 1:30 PM
- Venue: EMPAC Concert Hall
- Admission: General admission
- Price: $20 or included with Festival Pass; tickets on sale June 15, 2026

Artist photos: Rock City Falls Trio (l-r): Alex Chang, Jason Handron, Adam Forman. Courtesy the artist. Photo: Jessica Tomaselli. Sun Dogs (l-r): Dominique Vuvan, Adam Tinkle. Courtesy the artist. Photo: Jesse O'Connell.