NON:op's Immersive Platform for Virtual Performance and Participation
volume 6:9, November 2025
Please join us as we investigate alternative futures through
music, art, poetry, performance, research, observation, and activism.
SHARE. INTERACT. COLLABORATE.
AND SUPPORT OUR PROGRAMMING WITH A DONATION.
|
|
STN Commission Concert
Saturday, November 15 at 7pm
Theatre Y, 3611 W Cermak Rd
Join us on November 15 at Theatre Y in North Lawndale as we honor and celebrate the 2025 SAY THEIR NAMES commissioned artists, Donna "Dante" Marie Gary, Pugs Atomz, and Dr Tara Betts, with Anthony R. Green.
November 15, 7pm • Theatre Y
3611 W Cermak Rd, Chicago, IL 60623
For accessibility requests contact non [at] nonopera [dot] org
|
|
|
LAN Youth Poetry
by Nilah Brielle Harris and Abigail Delilah Aguilar
 NON:op's 2025 iteration of Listening Across Neighborhoods concluded with student presentations at the Guanacaste 2025 Transformational Listening Conference at Saint Ignatius College Prep on October 25. The nation's largest student led listening conference, Guanacaste seeks to understand and build the skill of listening through expert speakers, workshops, coaching, and the Listening Awards Luncheon. Presenting youth included Nilah Brielle Harris, Keturah Freeman, and Abigail Delilah Aguilar. Nilah and Abigail's poems are featured below.- op -
What Does Silence Sound Like?
Nilah Brielle Harris
What does silence sound like?
Does it have a voice?
Does it shout or does it whisper?
Is it mourning or rejoice?
Is silence quiet?
Quiet as a mouse?
Quiet as the skeletons
In the closet of my house?
Is it quiet as the truths?
Quiet as the lies?
Quiet as the history
We bury deep inside?
- op -
Echoes in My Neighborhood
Abigail Delilah Aguilar
So-called “animals” crawling to be free in the torture of hell,
Rage in the heart,
A loud desperation deep in the quickly dying spirit.
You cross borders with dreams, only to be told to leave your soul behind.
Dark or light skin,
Brown, blue, green eyes,
English or your native language
It holds no value in a world full of opportunities only designated for the privileged.
- op -
Congratulations to youth representing communities throughout Chicago who participated in Listening Across Neighborhoods. Thank you to sound teaching artists Mira Simonton-Chau, Ari, Allen Moore, and Marco Fernando Guagnelli Gonzalez, public speaking trainer Phillip Purkett and our guest speakers Marvin Tate, Alex Boutros, and Damon Locks. A special thank you to our funder, The Richard H Driehaus Foundation and Brad White. We are looking forward to our third Listening Across Neighborhoods program in 2026.
Pictured below are Faith Akines, Esmeralda Guadarrama, Ruben Amador, Lyanna Harris, Rosco Walker-Gittings, Amaje Long, Darius Moore, Noah Hall, Aldo Martinez, and Gabriel Omar Mendoza Escobar.
Listening Across Neighborhoods Presentation Class led by Phillip Purkett
|
|
|
Christophe Preissing at Theatre Y!
performing STRESS TEST in the Performer Sandbox
Friday Night Swerve, November 14, 7pm
Theatre Y, 3611 W Cermak Road
FREE • FREE • FREE
|
|
|
[ NEW PROGRAM ] Equipment Sharing Program
Do you need AV equipment for your next show or project,
but can't afford to purchase or rent it?
?
NON:op Arts and Humanities is now offering audio and video equipment and services to other small Chicago non-profit organizations and individuals with whom we share a vision and creative aesthetic. This high-quality gear—purchased with funding from DCASE's CARP grant—may be used for both in-person and live-stream productions. Equipment and services will be made available at a very reasonable rate and/or in exchange for equipment and resources that we do not have.
Click HERE or above for more information about this exciting new program
or contact Theo at esp@nonopera.org.
|
|
|
[ INTERACT ] New Digital Home and...
We are very, very excited to roll out our NEW NON:op Arts and Humanities website. After a year-long development with Designed Advantage (shout out to Greg Denagall!!) it HERE!!! This new interactive website will make it easy to directly participate in multiple NON:op projects. Check it out!
[ INTERACT ] New Physical Home!
We are very, very excited to announce that NON:op Arts and Humanities is moving to the Theatre Y building at 3611 West Cermak Road in North Lawndale. We are thrilled to be welcomed at Theatre Y by Melissa, the Actors, and Staff. At the beginning of 2025 we embraced the humanities programming we have been doing since 2020 by changing our organization's name to NON:op Arts and Humanities, and now we are moving to the Theatre Y building in North Lawndale to be closer to the communities that we serve. While we will not move in until later this year, we will be spending most of our time on Cermak. Come visit us!
Already in the past month, NON:op has provided technical and video support for Theatre Y’s Not To Be, a documentary shot inside Stateville Correctional Center. And NON:op's artistic director, Christophe Preissing, made his Theatre Y debut as a metaphor for police violence in Tortured By Blue by Stanley Howard, for which also created sound.
|
|
|
[ PARTICIPATE ] 2025 Performances and Events
Mark your calendars for the following 2025 performances and Events:
- August - October: Season two of Listening Across Neighborhoods
- November 14: Performance of STRESS TEST, at Theatre Y
- November 15: SAY THEIR NAMES commission concert, Theatre Y
- December 11: Christophe Preissing, Liliana Wosko, and Eric Leonardson, Elastic Arts Improv Series
|
|
|
[ WOW ] Fundraising News!
|
|
|
IMPACT THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES: JOIN THE NON:op BOARD!
NON:op is growing, and like many organizations coming out of the pandemic, we are growing with projects, installations, and performances. It's quite an exciting time for us! Are you savvy about one or more aspects of running a non-profit? Join our board of directors. Do you have a passion for planning engaging events and projects? Join our programming committee. For more information, contact Christophe at non [at] nonopera [dot] org. And to find out more about NON:op Arts and Humanities and our initiatives visit our WEBSITE.
• • •
Governing and Programming Board Positions
Do you believe in the work we are doing? If so, please contact non [at] nonopera [dot] org to find out how you can support NON:op as a Board member. NON:op is seeking creative, passionate, and inspired individuals to join our board of directors in one of the following roles:
Programming Committee
The programming committee meets monthly with the artistic director and is responsible for supporting current programming and devising and producing future programming and events.
Governing Committee
The governing committee is responsible for finances, governance, and legal matters in support of the organization and its programming. The governing committee meets once per quarter and is joined by members of the programming committee.
|
|
|
 Volunteer, Intern, and Other OpportunitiesNON:op is seeking volunteers, interns, participants, assistants, artists, and all who have creative ideas and who would like to work with NON:op to implement a shared vision. Please contact Christophe at non [at] nonopera [dot] org if you would like to find out more and join us as we create an alternative future.
Click here to order and support NON:op and its artists. |
|
|
|
Thank you for taking care of each other by staying indoors and practicing social distancing.
We hope you and yours are well and staying safe as we work to create an alternative future.
SHARE. INTERACT. COLLABORATE.
Christophe, Saba, Theo, Ja Nelle, Jason, and all of NON:op's creatives, staff, volunteers, and interns
NON:op is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Please consider supporting NON:op's program initiatives, creatives, and mission with a donation today.
All donations are tax deductible according to federal guidelines. Thank you.
|
|
|
|
|
NON:op's 2025 iteration of 
Volunteer, Intern, and Other Opportunities
