.soundfullness began with a piano found in pieces outside of a bar in Queens.
We dragged it to an empty lot and reassembled it, weaving objects into the strings and taping simple electronics to the soundboard: breathing new life into an instrument destined for the trash.
We build new systems by rewiring existing ones to mine them for their sonic possibilities, and then shape them into new music.
We work within potluck dinners, empty lots, sunsets, community gardens, under the hood of pianos found on train tracks, within memories recorded to tape found at antique shops, and beyond.
We dragged it to an empty lot and reassembled it, weaving objects into the strings and taping simple electronics to the soundboard: breathing new life into an instrument destined for the trash.
We build new systems by rewiring existing ones to mine them for their sonic possibilities, and then shape them into new music.
We work within potluck dinners, empty lots, sunsets, community gardens, under the hood of pianos found on train tracks, within memories recorded to tape found at antique shops, and beyond.
/recent.work
/flux_sessions.p2.soundfullness
11.8.24
8 > 9pm doors at 7:30pm
Flux Factory, Queens, New York
supported by New York Foundation for the Arts
/flux_sessions.p1.soundfullness
9.10.24
7 > 9pm
Flux Factory, Queens, New York
supported by the New York Foundation for the Arts
/super_secret.soundfullness
5.29.23
8 > 11pm
location undisclosed.
/solstice.soundfullness
12.21.2022
5pm > 6pm
outside @ Astor Place Plaza
presented by Make Music NY
& the Village Alliance
/autumn.soundfullness
Sept., Oct., Nov. 2022
6 > 8pm
outside @ Smiling Hogshead Ranch
supported by the Queens Council on the Arts
/new_agora.soundfullness
7.9.2022
2 > 7pm
outside @ Socrates Sculpture Park
part of the New Agora Festival
/lot_sessions.soundfullness
Dec. 2021 > Sept. 2022
outside @ Culture Lab LIC
durational installation with live performances supported by the Queens Council on the Arts
/super_secret.soundfullness
recorded at sunset in 2023./listening_sessions/summer
recorded on a very hot day at the 2022 New Agora Festival, Socrates Sculpture Park, NYC./listening_sessions/winter
recorded on a very cold night in 2021 at Culture Lab LIC’s Second Stage..soundfullness/who_is
is a collaboration: Nicole Brancato & Douglas Paulson
Our practice is unconventional by design. We both bring different sensibilities to our practice, which finds us pushing and pulling at sound, visual art, listening, finding, and performance in unconventional spaces: empty lots, community gardens, potluck dinners.
Both Nicole and Doug are internationally accomplished, and their .soundfullness work includes the Socrates Sculpture Park’s New Agora Festival, QCA’s Queens Art Fund, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and a headlining spot in Make Music NY. .soundfullness was formed around a shared love of sonic discovery and a desire to make contemporary, challenging work.
find us:
soundfullness.bandcamp.com
nicolebrancato.com
douglaspaulson.com
Nicole Brancato makes music to unlock wonder. Fascinated with contemporary expressions of our shared human experience, the NYC-based pianist merges curation, composition and performance in collaborations across the arts. Described as “brilliant” and an “immense talent” (New York Magazine and Connect Savannah), Nicole is “redefining the very notion of classical music” (Atención San Miguel). Her credits range from the Guggenheim Museum (NYC), Rai Italia, and the Banff Centre (Canada) to Lincoln Center, Bellas Artes (Mexico), HBO, and the “underground” performances in Brooklyn factories and warehouses.
An awardee of the New York Foundation of the Arts (2024), IPaT/GTRI Research & Engagement Grant (2024), New York State Council on the Arts (2024), Pure.Art Circle Italy (2024), and National Sawdust’s Hildegard Commission (2022 Finalist), Nicole has curated more than 100 productions featuring 200+ compositions and commissions over the last decade. Described as a “piano virtuoso” (The Daily Gazette, Saratoga Springs), Nicole focuses on the kinetic energy exchange in performances — with both her collaborators and her audience. Such collaborations range from Persephone & the Phoenix — an electroacoustic duo that produces environmentally-focused immersive works like 9 Ways to Destroy a Violin — to partnering with artist/author Sam Morris in “wait-list-only” performances at actor Alan Cumming’s NYC Club.
A frequent guest presenter of workshops, master classes, and residencies, Nicole has delivered sessions for the Gesellschaftshaus Magdeburg, Germany; Lunigiana International Music Festival, Italy; for the Sphinx Organization; and for universities across the US. In 2022, she joined Seven Hills Chamber Music as Director and a distinguished Artist in Residence. She is a Yamaha Artist and a voting member of The Recording Academy (GRAMMYS), and her music is registered with ASCAP.
Douglas Paulson has been developing an expansive, socially engaged and collaborative practice for over 15 years. His work takes many forms, from sprawling social projects in public space, to intimate drawings, books, and sonic experiments.
Doug’s creative practice winds through many roles in the arts: an artist, educator, curator, administrator, thinker, and tinkerer. Collaboration is at the heart of this practice. His work has come to life across NYC and abroad, bringing together people from disparate backgrounds into conversation with each other.
He has participated in, and occasionally organized, projects and exhibitions both close to home in Queens, and across the world.
His pedagogical practice is foundational to his creative output, designing moments for encounters with art making, the natural world, mindfulness in classrooms and beyond.
Our practice is unconventional by design. We both bring different sensibilities to our practice, which finds us pushing and pulling at sound, visual art, listening, finding, and performance in unconventional spaces: empty lots, community gardens, potluck dinners.
Both Nicole and Doug are internationally accomplished, and their .soundfullness work includes the Socrates Sculpture Park’s New Agora Festival, QCA’s Queens Art Fund, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and a headlining spot in Make Music NY. .soundfullness was formed around a shared love of sonic discovery and a desire to make contemporary, challenging work.
find us:
soundfullness.bandcamp.com
nicolebrancato.com
douglaspaulson.com
.soundfullness/about_nicole
Nicole Brancato makes music to unlock wonder. Fascinated with contemporary expressions of our shared human experience, the NYC-based pianist merges curation, composition and performance in collaborations across the arts. Described as “brilliant” and an “immense talent” (New York Magazine and Connect Savannah), Nicole is “redefining the very notion of classical music” (Atención San Miguel). Her credits range from the Guggenheim Museum (NYC), Rai Italia, and the Banff Centre (Canada) to Lincoln Center, Bellas Artes (Mexico), HBO, and the “underground” performances in Brooklyn factories and warehouses.
An awardee of the New York Foundation of the Arts (2024), IPaT/GTRI Research & Engagement Grant (2024), New York State Council on the Arts (2024), Pure.Art Circle Italy (2024), and National Sawdust’s Hildegard Commission (2022 Finalist), Nicole has curated more than 100 productions featuring 200+ compositions and commissions over the last decade. Described as a “piano virtuoso” (The Daily Gazette, Saratoga Springs), Nicole focuses on the kinetic energy exchange in performances — with both her collaborators and her audience. Such collaborations range from Persephone & the Phoenix — an electroacoustic duo that produces environmentally-focused immersive works like 9 Ways to Destroy a Violin — to partnering with artist/author Sam Morris in “wait-list-only” performances at actor Alan Cumming’s NYC Club.
A frequent guest presenter of workshops, master classes, and residencies, Nicole has delivered sessions for the Gesellschaftshaus Magdeburg, Germany; Lunigiana International Music Festival, Italy; for the Sphinx Organization; and for universities across the US. In 2022, she joined Seven Hills Chamber Music as Director and a distinguished Artist in Residence. She is a Yamaha Artist and a voting member of The Recording Academy (GRAMMYS), and her music is registered with ASCAP.
.soundfullness/about_douglas
Douglas Paulson has been developing an expansive, socially engaged and collaborative practice for over 15 years. His work takes many forms, from sprawling social projects in public space, to intimate drawings, books, and sonic experiments.
Doug’s creative practice winds through many roles in the arts: an artist, educator, curator, administrator, thinker, and tinkerer. Collaboration is at the heart of this practice. His work has come to life across NYC and abroad, bringing together people from disparate backgrounds into conversation with each other.
He has participated in, and occasionally organized, projects and exhibitions both close to home in Queens, and across the world.
His pedagogical practice is foundational to his creative output, designing moments for encounters with art making, the natural world, mindfulness in classrooms and beyond.