Daniel Fishkin: Solar Sounders

Join us on Saturday, November 20, from 11 a.m. til sundown, for an interactive sound installation by composer, instrument builder, and multimedia artist Daniel Fishkin. Room & Board’s back garden will host a chorus of Daniel’s Solar Sounders, wooden instruments with solar panels and circuit boards that convert sunlight into music. As the light changes throughout the day, the Sounders’ song will transform as well. In addition, visitors are invited to rearrange the sounders to create new ensembles.

Coffee, tea, donuts, bagels, and other refreshments are on the house. No RSVP is necessary. Note: We do ask that all visitors show proof of vaccination.

If you are unable to make it in November 20, but would like to see the installation, write us directly to make an appointment.

This event will take place outdoors at Room & Board, 153 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg (Bedford L).


After hours, when the sun has gone quiet, we will gather round the campfire and let the Sounders sing a softer song to the tune of the flames. This is the first time that the Sounders will play to firelight.



Daniel Fishkin’s ears are ringing. Composer, sound artist, and instrument builder. Completely ambivalent about music. Daniel studied with composer Maryanne Amacher and with multi-instrumentalist Mark Stewart. He has performed as a soloist on modular synthesizer with the American Symphony Orchestra, developed sound installations in abandoned concert halls, and played innumerable basement punk shows. Daniel’s lifework investigating the aesthetics of hearing damage has received international press (Nature Journal, 2014); as an ally in the search for a cure, he has been awarded the title of  “tinnitus ambassador” by the Deutsche Tinnitus-Stiftung. He is the only luthier that studied with the daxophone’s inventor, Hans Reichel; Daniel’s instruments have traveled the world, and are played everyday by players based in Canada, California, Norway, Germany, France, Japan, Kazakhstan, and Australia. Daniel received his MA in Music Composition from Wesleyan University, and has taught analog synthesis at Bard College. He is currently a PhD Candidate in Composition and Computer Music at the University of Virginia, and teaches Musical Instrument Design at the Cooper Union, NYC. Daniel was Room and Board’s first resident and is the creator of its long-term installation Bed Piece – Pelta Feldman Variation.