Saturday / September 5, 2026 at 7:00 pm TOPOS 2026 welcomes The Silent Light, performing their live score for Kinugasa’s 1926 silent film A Page of Madness. In EMPAC’s theater, they transform the cult classic into a collision of sound and cinematic unrest. Screening The Silent Light

Saturday / September 5, 2026 at 4:00 pm Edward George on vocals and turntables, and Paul Abbott on drums and electronics, electrify TOPOS festival audiences with their concert The Strangeness of Drumming in EMPAC’s Studio 1 venue. Performance Paul Abbott and Edward George

Saturday / September 5, 2026 at 2:00 pm TOPOS welcomes Improv Spaces, presenting Rock City Falls Trio and Sun Dogs in two sets of adventurous improvised music spanning jazz, experimental, ambient, and indie-influenced atmospheres. Performance Rock City Falls Trio & Sun Dogs

Saturday / September 5, 2026 at 12:00 pm Join TOPOS for a free Community BBQ, catered by Brooks’ BBQ and open to the public, with Sound House Records selling and spinning music—a chance for festival artists and audiences to meet, eat, and keep the conversation going. Gathering

Friday / September 4, 2026 at 9:00 pm Miho Hatori’s Paris Syndrome premieres at TOPOS Music Festival. Surrounded by shifting fields of live sound, voice, and image, encounter what happens when perception begins to slip. Performance, Commission Miho Hatori, with Michiko Ogawa and Daniel Peck

Friday / September 4, 2026 at 7:00 pm TOPOS welcomes Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith, performing Defiant Life in the EMPAC Concert Hall. Experience the spiritually and sonically intense improvised music of these two pioneering legends. Performance Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith

Thursday / September 3, 2026 at 9:00 pm Performing at TOPOS in the ambisonic environment of EMPAC’s Studio 1, IMA conjures a sound world suspended between destruction and renewal—searching for fleeting moments of beauty at the edge of collapse. Performance IMA

Thursday / September 3, 2026 at 6:00 pm TOPOS 2026 welcomes filmmaker, writer, broadcaster, and musician Edward George to EMPAC for a live version of his acclaimed podcast The Strangeness of Jazz. Performance Edward George

Wednesday / September 2, 2026 at 5:00 pm Filmmaker Edward George is in Troy for the American premiere of Black Atlas, with author Fred Moten joining for the post-screening talk. A TOPOS festival add-on at The Sanctuary, with iEAR Presents. EMPAC / Sanctuary for Independent Media Workshop Edward George

September 2-5, 2026 TOPOS 2026 creates occasions for deepened listening and critical encounters with Vijay Iyer, Wadada Leo Smith, Miho Hatori, Edward George, and many more. Festival