Roulette founder Jim Staley has announced he will be stepping down from his 45-year post as Artistic Director.

At the end of the current season, Staley will be relieved of his duties and welcome incoming Artistic Director Matt Mehlan, who will join Executive Director Jamie Burns in co-leading the organization.

Staley is known for shaping and forever changing the experimental music scene of New York City. During his service in the U.S. Army, he spent three years playing trombone in military bands. Here he was inspired by the collectivist, envelope-pushing spirit of the German avant-garde music scene, which he experienced first-hand while stationed in Berlin from 1971 to 1973. In 2005, Staley received the Susan E. Kennedy Memorial Award, the 2012 ASCAP award, and was named a 2018 Champion of New Music by the American Composers’ Forum for his tireless support of artists.

Roulette’s Board of Directors, original co-founders, staff, and community will honor Staley (and this incredible milestone) at Roulette’s 45th Anniversary Gala on June 6. The evening will feature performances by Yuka Honda, Nels Cline, Immanuel Wilkins, Ikue Mori, John Zorn, and Staley himself.

Founded in 1978 by a group of artists in a Tribeca loft in NYC, Roulette has grown into an internationally recognized performing arts venue and presenter of experimental music, dance, and intermedia featuring some of today’s most prolific artists and their extraordinary emerging counterparts. Roulette presents 120+ annual performances alongside an additional 150 community/rental events, serving up to 70,000 annual visitors in a 12,000-square-foot venue in Downtown Brooklyn. In addition to its robust in-person and virtual live programming, Roulette presents a monthly podcast, weekly and monthly radio shows, and weekly TV segments on Manhattan and Brooklyn public access. Our mission is to support artists creating new and adventurous art in all disciplines by providing them with a venue and resources to realize their creative visions, and to build an audience interested in the evolution of experimental art.