JJJJJerome Ellis (Night 1)

Over two nights, artists JJJJJerome Ellis, Christof Migone + Marla Hlady, and Alex Raja Ven explore sound’s liberatory potential—moving through, across, and against time.

This two-part performance program explores embodied sound—its resonance, pronunciation, utterance, and silence.

Night 1:

Night one begins with Alex Raja Ven’s embodied approach to ambient music and sound as a liberatory portal. The evening continues with JJJJJerome Ellis performing The Clearing (2021).

The Clearing challenges us to reimagine dysfluency in speech and its impact on how we exist in the social realm. Ellis, who speaks with a block stutter—manifesting as intervals of silence—calls these pauses “clearings.” They argue that stuttering, like music, opens time and suggests that disabled speakers, particularly Black individuals, face temporal regulation and oppression that seek to pathologize and criminalize. Of the project, they share: “I hope this album offers the listener some of what my stutter offers me: an opportunity to imagine new ways of being in time.”

JJJJJerome Ellis’ performance of The Clearing will have ASL and CART (Communication Access Real-time Translation) interpretation. Alex Raja Ven’s performance will have subwoofer-adjacent seating options.

Co-curated by Sara Constant and Karie Liao, this program is co-presented with the Blackwood Gallery as part of In a Manner of Speaking, in collaboration with the Music Gallery’s 2024-2025 season.

All prices inclusive of HST.

Join us for both nights, by purchasing a $30 bundle.

As always, if funds are low you're welcome to reach out to sanjeet@musicgallery.org to join. No questions asked.