Joy Askew will perform a series of songs about animals and their rights as an extension of ethics. She will use piano and live multilayered vocal tracks and loops to build up layered sound.

Originally from the North of England, Joy Askew has made New York City her home for thirty years. Not only a singer-songwriter, she has played and sung in bands with such luminary artists as Joe Jackson, Peter Gabriel, Laurie Anderson, and Jack Bruce, and in 1986, Askew appeared in Laurie Anderson’s quintessential movie Home Of The Brave. She has opened live for David Bowie and David Byrne while promoting two of her own eight CD releases. 2012 saw the release of Askew’s CD Drunk On You, which has garnered positive reviews and had radio play across the US. Askew is also a member of the band Forge the Bell—a soundscape full of loops and improvisation. Askew has been an activist on behalf of farmed animals since 2004.

“Hear, Here” Gallery Sessions is a series of public events that take place within the exhibition “Hear, Here” by Jeanine Oleson, presented in the Fifth Floor Gallery. The set and objects for an opera created by Oleson (to premiere in the New Museum Theater June 13–14) will be present during the run of the exhibition, forming an impromptu stage set and catalyst for this series. Each session is led by an invited guest or guests who react to the concepts and objects presented in the exhibition.