Philadelphia born and Pew Fellowship recipient, King James Britt (his real name) is a 30+ year, producer, composer and performer in the global advancement of electronic music. 

As a composer and producer, his practice has lead to collaborations with the likes of De La Soul, Madlib, Kathy Sledge, director Michael Mann (Miami Vice) and many others, as well as being called for remixes from an eclectic list of giants, including, Miles Davis, Solange all the way to Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa. Most recently collaborating with MacArthur Fellow recipient , Tyshawn Sorey for their recently released album project. 

In his role as performer, he has travelled globally playing thousands of venues and festivals, including, AfroPunk (NYC), Berghain (Berlin), MoogFest (Durham), Le Guess Who Festival (Utrecht) and Public Records (NYC). His curatorial work has been seen in many collaborations with the likes of MoMA PS1, Philadelphia Museum of Art and most recently Carnegie Hall. 

Blacktronika : Afrofuturism In Electronic Music, is a new lecture course at UCSD, created by Teaching Professor King, researching and honoring the people of color, who have pioneered groundbreaking genres within the electronic music landscape. Genres span from Chicago House, Detroit Techno and Drum & Bass music. Using his position in the industry, the class has been attended by many, including Questlove, Julian Priester and Flying Lotus. 

King remains one of the go to authorities on Afrofuturism in music.

Laetitia Sonami is a sound artist, performer and researcher. Born in France, she settled in the United States in 1975 to pursue her interest in the emerging field of electronic music and studied with Eliane Radigue, Joel Chadabe, Robert Ashley and David Behrman.

Sonami’s sound performances, live film collaborations and sound installations focus on issues of presence and participation. She has devised new gestural controllers for performance and applies new technologies and appropriated media to achieve an expression of immediacy through sound, place and objects.

Best known for her unique instrument, the elbow-length lady’s glove, which is fitted with an array of 30+ sensors tracking the slightest motion of her hand and body, she has performed worldwide and earned substantial international renown. The lady’s glove was a precursor to current wearables and gestural controllers. After retiring the lady’s glove in 2015, Sonami embarked on the design of a new instrument, the Spring Spyre based on the application of neural networks to real-time audio synthesis. Magnetic Song cycles with the Spring Spyre is an on-going exploration with this instrument and currently comprises five live compositions.

Recent collaborations include an improvisation duo, Sparrows and Ortolans, with James Fei; and Le Corps Sonore, a fully immersive sound installation on six floors of the Rubin Museum in New York City with Eliane Radigue and Bob Bielecki.

Upcoming projects include a collaboration with harpist Zeena Parkins, a new live film project with Sue-C and the design of a fantasy instrument, the lady’s balls.