Roulette Intermedium, a performing arts and new music venue, was located here from 1978 until 2000, when it moved to a renovated theater in downtown Brooklyn. A place where both young and established artists could explore new territory, invent, and cross-pollinate ideas, it was also the site of one of the key moments featured in the exhibition "New York, New Music: 1980–1986," on view at the Museum through September 18, 2022. On October 13, 1984, Cobra—one of avant-garde composer John Zorn’s most influential “Game Pieces”—premiered. Inspired by a World War II role-playing game of the same name was a genre-defying musical composition designed for controlled improvisation. The piece was conceived as a system of rules for a group of musicians and a prompter. A native of New York City, Zorn has been a central figure in the downtown scene since 1975. He is known for drawing on a wide range of musical genres, including jazz, rock, hardcore punk, classical, klezmer, film, cartoon, popular, and improvised music. Zorn continues to create an influential body of work that crosses standard academic categories. Cobra has become a staple of avant-garde music, routinely played by both seasoned musicians and students looking to hone their improvisational skills.