Jesse Gelaznik

Composer | Visual Artist
Brooklyn, New York.

About

Jesse Gelaznik is a multidisciplinary artist obsessed with sound in all its forms. Performing on guitar, synthesizer, and electronics, Jesse creates vivid sonic worlds that blur the line between song and score. He is one half of Dirty Churches, a NewYork–based performance art duo blending myth, ritual, and music through live scores, psychedelic songs, and theatrical performance.

Musical Mentors

  • Jason Cady / Western Harmony

  • Judith Berkson / Counterpoint

  • Amy Stewart / Piano

Commissions and Collaborators

  • Rachel Blackwell / Dirty Churches

  • Experiments in Opera

  • HUB New Music

  • S.E.M. Ensemble

  • Andréa Stanislav / Mattress Factory Museum

  • Sembrich Opera Museum / Hyde Museum

  • Daniel Garcia and Rania Attieh / Filmmakers

  • Sue Huang / Artist

  • Kevin Doyle / Playwright / Sponsored by Nobody

Performances

2025

  • Total Archive by Sue Huang – prerecorded soundtrack commissioned by Sue Huang, MoMA Titus Theater.

  • Death and Signs of Re-birth – commissioned by Alisa Minyukova and the Brooklyn Public Library; half-hour solo performance.

  • A Ransom Note! For solo violin, by Jangles Zeeski; part of S.E.M. Ensemble’s New Scores by emerging composers.

2024

  • Five Ways to Die – Mischief or Rathattan – chamber opera workshop with Experiments in Opera (Writers’ Room).

  • Spinner Song – vocal loop for multi-channel sound installation by Andréa Stanislav at the Russian Museum of Art.

2023

  • Cubes and Anarchy – 10-minute quartet for HUB New Music and Sembrich Opera Museum (in conjunction with the Hyde Museum), incorporating pre-recorded sound elements.

  • Sembrich Sound Trails – site-specific sound-walk installation.

2021

  • Surmatants – Mars Rising – multi-channel sound installation and musical score for Andréa Stanislav at Mattress Factory Museum.

  • RUMPLES – video opera with Mattress Factory Museum and Andréa Stanislav.

2020

  • Footnote for the End of Time – video illustrations for Theater in Quarantine.

2019

  • ERA OF GOOD FEELINGS – one-hour opera premiered at La MaMa Galleria.

Earlier Works

  • String Loop for THE AЯTS – 4-track tape loop for viola, La MaMa (2018)

  • PWR&$$$ – sound installation and CD, in collaboration with Daniel Garcia, presented at biennial events including Sharjah Art Foundation (2012) and Victoria and Albert Museum (2012).

Film & Theater Scores

  • Initials S.G. (2019), H. (2014), SkyLine (2015), Recommended by Enrique (2014) – composer on multiple projects by Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia, and others.

  • The Second Shift (2017) – scored episode(s) for TV mini-series.

Discography & Recordings

  • Falling (EP) – a collage-based sound-poem recording (2024), published by Cmntx Records; created through an experimental process assigning words to notes, with vocals by Heather Green and viola by Brianne Lugo.

  • Surmatants – Mars Rising (vinyl) – in collaboration with Andréa Stanislav, available via Printed Matter.

  • PWR&$$$ – Meditations On Inertia And Other Low Key Qualities – digital release, Bandcamp.

  • Dvorak – 1-minute sound-art piece available for download.

  • Getting Rid of the Glue – Dirty Churches release on Pendu Sound Recordings.

  • Multiple releases and streaming via Spotify, Bandcamp, SoundCloud.

  • Raking Light (EP) – released May 20, 2025; includes tracks such as “Angel of Despair,” “Into the Blue,” “Best of You,” “Headway,” and “Raking Light.” Collaborators include Melisa Bonetti Luna (vocals), Jared Barron (drums), H. Leon Harris (electric fuzz), and engineered by Eric Elterman. Cover art by Jesse Gelaznik.

Performance Art: Dirty Churches

  • Co-founded and performs with the New York–based collective Dirty Churches, blending ritual, mysticism, music, theater, and installation.

  • Performed works include Era of Good Feelings (La MaMa, 2019), RUMPLES (video opera, Mattress Factory, 2021), SIREN (Whitebox, NYC, 2023), EATER OF HEARTS (Whitebox, 2023), POWER MOVES (Whitebox, 2025), among others.

Visual Art & Illustration

  • An avid sketcher in pastel and charcoal, Jesse's drawings range from plein-air landscapes to science-fiction surrealism and were described in the New York Times as “stunning” and “eye catching” in the context of Footnote for the End of Times.

Press & Recognition

Featured / reviewed in:

  • New York Classical Review (on Experiments in Opera performance)

  • New York Times (visual work in Footnote for the End of Time)

  • Times Union (classical composition note)

  • Variety, The Hollywood Reporter (film reviews)

  • Huffington Post, Vice, Good Art News, Stereogum (varied coverage of music, film, and visual art).

This website is Copyright © Jesse Gelaznik.