Experimental Sound Program

Presented by PSpace and in its inaugural year, the Experimental Sound Program (ESP) is a brand-new artist development program. 

In 2026, the program will be curated by artist Frances Barrett and will focus on artists working at the intersection of performance and the voice. Titled 'The Expanded Voice', this inaugural program will invite artists into a process of exchange, development and sharing of practice with each other, mentors and audiences. 

'The Expanded Voice' extends on Frances’ curatorial and artistic work in performance. Frances is an artist working across sound installation and performance art, creating immersive works that position the audience as active listeners. Listening is the sensory focus of her work, becoming a way to initiate and imagine queer forms of relation, embodiment and affect. Frances has a long-standing commitment to collective and collaborative processes, working with performers, vocalists and sound designers in the development of each new work. 

The emergence of the Experimental Sound Program is rooted in artistic discourse and Performance Space’s commitment to supporting communities of experimental practice, this first iteration also seeks to position itself in relation to our broader world, inviting artists whose voices penetrate into spaces as yet unknown to come together and amplify their work.

Artistic Director Kate Britton says; 'In an era of ever-increasing noise and seemingly diminishing capacity to listen, this work feels critical and urgent.'