ISSUE Project Room began in 2003 with a special concert curated by ISSUE's late founder
Suzanne Fiol and musician
Marc Ribot honoring the work of
Frantz Casseus, the father of Haitian Classical music. The venue started in a garage space in the
East Village of
Manhattan, In June 2012, Zach Layton and Nick Hallett performed
Anthony Braxton's opera
Trillium E,
Pauline Oliveros's eight-handed piano piece "Gathering Together", and the New York City premiere of two works by French
electro-acoustic artist Luc Ferrari. In 2012, ISSUE began to work with the NYC Department of Design and Construction to prepare for renovations. Notable performances at the Boerum Place theater include
Cecil Taylor's first performance in Brooklyn, a three-night series of
Philip Glass in collaboration with
Stephin Merritt,
Laurie Anderson, and
Jon Gibson,
Keiji Haino performing solo and with
Fushitsusha founding member Tamio Shiraishi, and the PAN_ACT festival, which brought together over 30 artists in conjunction with the Berlin-based label PAN. ISSUE completed its capital campaign in 2012 by raising over $4,000,000 to renovate its space, scheduled to begin in 2014. In March 2020, ISSUE suspended all in-person programming due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, ISSUE commissioned over 250 artists for free online programs. In Fall 2021, a limited amount of in-person, indoor and outdoor events resumed. ==References==