Mission

Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project (CUSP) is dedicated to strengthening the artistic engagement of the Northeast Ohio community by championing the creation and performance of new music. We strive to give a voice to adventurous creators and performing artists of diverse backgrounds who need a platform for their work. By presenting innovative events in a variety of settings, offering engaging programming, organizing outreach activities, and providing ways for audiences to interact with musicians, CUSP aims to ignite curiosity about new music. Our organization facilitates collaboration among artists, both local and beyond, by bringing them together for new projects and performances. Establishing deeper connections among musicians, and between musicians and audiences, will enhance and embolden the arts community in Cleveland and throughout Northeast Ohio.

CUSP is a non-profit organization with 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. To make a tax-deductible donation in support of our mission, please click here.

Team

STEPHAN HALUSKA | MANAGING director

Since July, 2021, Stephan Haluska (he/him/his) leads Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project as managing director. Stephan brings his professional experience in concert production, arts marketing, and as a freelance musician to CUSP, along with his insatiable appetite for live music to help further establish Cleveland as a hub for new and experimental music.

Artistically, Stephan’s work revolves around exploring the harp’s sonic potential. His idiosyncratic approaches to the harp draw from the instrument’s unique textural, harmonic, percussive, structural, and kinetic qualities, he often focuses on non-traditional harp techniques to expand his sound palette, playing the instrument with a collection of tools, gadgetry, and assorted materials to prepare the harp. Stephan has given a number of festival performances, most notably at the International Harp Festival and has been selected for artist residencies at No Such Thing As Noise and Soaring Gardens. Some of his collaborators include flautist, Robert Dick, bassoonist, Dana Jessen, and three-piece electro-acoustic project, Halumnen.

Stephan currently runs a private harp studio at The Music Settlement, where he also teaches courses in music theory and arranging. Previously, he has taught a number of courses related to experimental music at Oberlin Conservatory as a visiting professor of TIMARA and has guest lectured at Cleveland Institute of Art and Cleveland State University. From 2019-2021, Stephan was a member of Fresh Perspectives’ core organizational team. Fresh Perspectives was a Cleveland-based, artist-led, non-profit concert series that provided musicians with performance and curatorial opportunities. Stephan holds an MFA in Harp Performance and Literature with a concentration in Improvisation from Mills College in 2014 and received his BA in Music Composition and Theory from Bowling Green State University in 2012.