Place Where the Waters Crossed
Public Programs
Raven Chacon in Conversation with Martín Rodríguez
Part of Reflections on Artistic Research
Friday, October 3, 2025 at 10:00 AM
At Milieux Institute, room 11.705 (11th Floor), Concordia EV Building
Free, in English
Tickets: SOLD OUT
Join sound artists Raven Chacon and Martín Rodríguez for a conversation around Chacon’s practice stemming from his exhibition Place Where the Waters Crossed presented at the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery. This discussion opens the event Reflections on Artistic Research, a gathering of curators, artists, and scholars exploring the distinct nature of research in art. Beyond academic conventions, artistic inquiry unfolds through materials, gestures, and embodied memory. This conference invites you to ask: What makes artistic research unique, and how can curiosity, imagination, and embodied knowledge shape new ways of knowing?
Co-presented with MOMENTA, Conversations in Contemporary Art and Post Image.
Read moreRaven Chacon is a composer, performer, and installation artist born in Fort Defiance, Navajo Nation. A recording artist for twenty-two years, he has appeared on over eighty releases on national and international labels. He has exhibited, performed, or had works performed at LACMA, the Whitney Biennial, Borealis Festival, SITE SANTA FE, the Kennedy Center, and other venues. As an educator, he is the senior composer mentor for the Native American Composer Apprentice Project. In 2022, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his composition Voiceless Mass, and in 2023 he received the MacArthur Fellowship.
As a transmission and sound artist, Martín Rodríguez’s work emerges from his Xicanx upbringing along the Arizona-Mexico border. He employs performance, intervention, and installation as a process for deciphering aural histories and entangled identities.
After recovering from surgery to remove a brain tumor, a chance encounter with a radio transmission caught in the pickup coils of his guitar reoriented Rodríguez. Developing his practice from crisis, he examines radio as a transformative medium. Rooting his relationship with radio in healing, his artworks consider transmission as a material through which sound intertwines with affect, acting as a vessel for ulterior forms of communication.
Elements of care and speculative thinking create rhizomes throughout his artwork. Utilizing these broader methods, Rodriguez approaches his work from the Xicanx concept of rasquachismo; this methodology utilizes pragmatic ways of remaking and hacking material and objects to reimagine their function. This is a process born from adapting, merging, and creating something practical and new from scarcity.
Notably, his work has been presented by the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (CA), Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MX), Darling Foundry (CA), Walking Festival for Sound (UK/PL), Spektrum (DE), as well as various festivals and performance venues across Canada, and the US.
Conversations in Contemporary Art invites local, national, and international artists and cultural producers to share their art, ideas, and creative processes through a year-long program of artist talks, lectures, and public dialogs. This series seeks to engage in conversations about contemporary culture, current events, thinking-through-making, and the role of the artist in society.
When nuanced and generative public conversations can feel like they are in crisis, we hope to double down in the belief that grounded and complex conversations are fundamental to our individual and collective growth; and that artists have the power to transform society, in uniquely creative ways.
All events are free and open to the public.
This series is made possible through the generous support of Lillian and Billy Mauer.
CloseConcert-performance of Raven Chacon, Quatuor Bozzini, E27 and Oktoécho
An unforgettable three-part musical program
Friday, October 3, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Grande Chapelle de la Cité des Hospitalières
201 Avenue des Pins Ouest, Montréal
Tickets required
The Quatuor Bozzini presents a multi-part program at the crossroads of cultures, in collaboration with artist-composer Raven Chacon and musicians from E27 musiques nouvelles and the Oktoécho ensemble. The evening will take place in two venues, connected by a musical procession that will accompany the audience from one to the other.
At the heart of the event are works by Raven Chacon, a Diné of the Navajo Nation. Renowned for his powerful works at the crossroads of experimental art and political engagement, Chacon is a composer, artist, and performer, and winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Music for Voiceless Mass, which kicks off the event in the magnificent Chapelle de la Cité-des-Hospitalières with 12 musicians filling the space. Utilizing the architecture of the venue, the work question the futility of giving a voice to those who have none, when giving up space is never an option for those in power. Certain inaudible sounds find resonance in the crevices of the sacred space, resulting in a sonic reflection. The septet Horse Notations, inspired by an 1874 article entitled The Paces of the Horse—the walk, trot, gallop, and canter—as a source of inspiration for rhythms, drum patterns, bow pressures, and volume arcs, closes this first part.
It is to the sound of Tiguex: VI — Downhill Procession (Procession I), a work based on a precise geographical map of the performance venue, that an 8-piece brass band assembled for the occasion guides us to La Chapelle — scènes contemporaines a few blocks away for an intimate second part featuring chamber works by Raven Chacon. We will hear his two string quartets, Double Weaving and The Journey of the Horizontal People, as well as (Bury Me) Where The Lightning [Will] Never Find Me, with seasoned musicians Noam Bierstone (percussion) and Allison Burik (bass clarinet) joining the Quatuor Bozzini.
In the third part, the Oktoécho ensemble and the musicians of E27 musiques nouvelles will present the Montreal premiere of Écliptique (2025) by composer Katia Makdissi-Warren. By merging Inuit throat singing (katajjaq), percussion, flutes, and clarinets, this work offers a unique encounter between the musical traditions of north and south, east and west. The musicians offer an immersive experience in spatialization.
Presented by the Quatuor Bozzini and Le Vivier in co-production with MOMENTA Biennale d’art contemporain and the Leonard & Bina Ellen Gallery. In collaboration with Québec musiques parallèles and the Flux Festival.
Unfortunately, the spaces of La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines are not currently wheelchair accessible. Access to the performance hall requires climbing about ten steps. The premises do not have an elevator.
Program:
Part One (42′)
Grande Chapelle de la Cité des Hospitalières
(201 Avenue des Pins Ouest, Montréal)
Raven Chacon: Voiceless Mass, 2021 (17′) for organ, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, 2 percussion instruments, string instrument, sinusoidal wave generator
Raven Chacon: Horse Notations, 2019 (25′) for flute, percussion and string quartet
Transition (12′)
Avenue des Pins toward La Chapelle Scènes contemporaines
Raven Chacon: Tiguex VI: Downhill Procession (Procession 1), 2025 (12′) for a minimum of 8 melodic instruments
Part Two (24′)
La Chapelle Scènes contemporaines
(3700 Rue Saint-Dominique, Montréal)
Raven Chacon: Double Weaving, 2014 (8′) for string quartet
Raven Chacon: The Journey of the Horizontal People, 2016 (8′) for string quartet
Raven Chacon: (Bury Me) Where The Lightning [Will] Never Find Me, 2014 (8′) for percussion, violin, cello, base
Part Three (40′)
La Chapelle Scènes contemporaines
(3700 Rue Saint-Dominique, Montréal)
Katia Makdissi-Warren: Écliptique, 2025 (40′) for voice, oud, shakuhachi, percussion and clarinet
Read moreRaven Chacon, born in 1977 in Fort Defiance, Arizona, is a Diné composer of chamber music. Also a noise and installation artist, notably part of the collective Postcommodity from 2009 to 2018, he was the first Indigenous American winner of a Pulitzer Prize in Music for his composition Voiceless Mass in 2022.
Since 1999, the Quatuor Bozzini has been an original voice of new, experimental, and classical music. A driving force of the hyper creative scene of Montréal and beyond, the quartet cultivates an approach that spotlights risk, experimentation, collaboration et adventure off the beaten path. Through their rigulous quality standards, they have contibuted to the creation of a diverse repertoire that ignores trends and fashions. Over the years, they have commissioned numerous works and created nearly 500. Their open, collaborative, artist-led approach has resulted in many innovative and highly acclaimed productions, including interdisciplinary projects involving video, theater, and dance.
E27 musiques nouvelles is an organization creating and producing new music. Founded in 1999, E27 embodies the contemporary music scene in the Quebec region. Since 2015, E27 has opened its activities to all types of music. Its main mandate is to promote recent musical creation by offering its audience the chance to hear a wide variety of recent musical creations. The organization’s mission is to contribute to the appreciation of different creative musical approaches regardless of style: concert music, improvisation, audiovisual performance, music for the image, contemporary music, and many others.
At the crossroads of Indigenous, Middle Eastern and Western music, Oktoécho creates, under the artistic direction of composer Katia Makdissi-Warren and the inuk throat singer Lydia Etok, original Québecois works that transcend borders.
E27 and Oktoécho:
Mélanie Bourassa: clarinet
Michel Dubeau: flutes, multi-instruments
Raphaël Guay: percussion
Katia Makdissi-Warren: musical director, oud
Bertil Schulrabe: percussion
Nina Segalowitz: voice, throat singing
Procession and other chamber works by Raven Chacon:
Scott Thomson: trombone
Kalun Leung: trombone
Émilie Fortin: trumpet
Julie Richard: sousaphone
Julie Houle: tuba
Cléo Palacio-Quintin: flute
Noam Bierstone: percussion
Kim Farris-Manning: conductor
Maria Gajraj: organ
Allison Burik: bass clarinet
Stéphane Krims: double bass
Quatuor Bozzini:
Isabelle Bozzini: cello
Stéphanie Bozzini: viola
Alissa Cheung: violin
Clemens Merkel: violin
In the Wake of These Waves
Performance by Cheryl L’Hirondelle with Katsitsanoron Dumoulin-Bush
Thursday, October 23, 2025, at 5:30 PM
At the Gallery
Free, in English
Based in her ongoing experience of embodying and exemplifying the nexus of nēhiyawin itāpisinawin (a Cree worldview) and contemporary time/place, Indigenous interdisciplinary artist and singer/songwriter Cheryl L’Hirondelle presents a sonic and textual resonance in response to experiencing Raven Chacon’s exhibition Place Where the Waters Crossed. The response includes a performance of the score (For Cheryl L’Hirondelle), 2018, written for her by Chacon as part of the series For Zitkála-Šá, 2017-2020. She will be joined by Katsitsanoron Dumoulin-Bush interpreting another score from the series. A talkback/Q&A between Cheryl and Katsitsanoron will take place immediately following moderated by Prakash Krishnan.
Read moreCheryl L’Hirondelle (Cree/Halfbreed; German/Polish) is an interdisciplinary artist, singer/songwriter and critical thinker whose family roots are from Papaschase First Nation / amiskwaciy wāskahikan (Edmonton) and Kikino Metis Settlement, AB. Her work investigates and articulates a dynamism of nēhiyawin (Cree worldview) in contemporary time-place to create immersive environments towards radical inclusion and decolonisation. As a songwriter, L’Hirondelle focuses on sharing nēhiyawēwin (Cree language) and Indigenous and contemporary hybrid song forms and Indigenous language sound shapes and personal narrative songwriting as methodologies toward survivance.
L’Hirondelle has performed, presented and exhibited nationally and internationally. She was awarded two imagineNATIVE New Media Awards (2005 & 2006) and two Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards (2006 & 2007). L’Hirondelle also received the 2021 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Art and in 2025 was bestowed an Honorary Doctorate from Queen’s University.
Katsitsanoron (Kat) Dumoulin-Bush is Onkwehonwe/French Canadian from Oshahrhè:’on (Chateauguay), Quebec. They received their BA in Linguistics from Concordia University in 2017. Kat has worked as an educator in indigenous communities across Quebec; teaching mathematics, science, music, special education, and kindergarten in Tasiujaq, Eastmain and Kahnawake. They have also worked in radio as a DJ and music journalist. Katsitsanoron considers themselves a “non-disciplinary” artist and curator; using experiential learning as a principal medium to make work and exhibitions that pose and respond to questions about sexual, racial, and interpersonal identity. As an artist, they have completed residencies at Artexte (2023) and The Banff Centre (2024); and at daphne art centre as a curatorial resident for the 2023 edition of MOMENTA. Passionate about arts and arts management, they have frequently collaborated with daphne arts centre, Maison de la culture Rosemont-la-Petite-Patrie, and the MACM. Kat is currently the Indigenous art and design intern at the MBAM, an educational assistant and cultural mediator at MOMENTA, and a board member of the CACPA (Collectif pour les arts et les cultures des Peuples autochtones).
Prakash Krishnan is the Public Programs and Education Coordinator at the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery.
CloseThe Philharmonic Orchestra of Things
A workshop built around Raven Chacon’s practice and created by Katsitsanoron Dumoulin-Bush of of MOMENTA Creative’s team
Saturday, September 13, 2025, 1:30 PM & 3:30 PM
In French & English
Free, at the Gallery
A reservation is required.
Register here.
Let’s explore the sounds around us! Enjoy becoming the composer of a unique sonar world! Without using a musical instrument, participants will experiment with creating sound using gestures, everyday objects, or voice, then imagine a way to represent it visually through an inventive and personal musical score. The workshop will conclude with a pooling of the scores and a group performance of a short musical piece. Through this accessible and playful creative moment, participants will listen differently, express themselves freely, and discover sound composition. No musical experience required!
For more flexibility, you may also reserve the date and time of your choice, from Wednesday to Friday between 9:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., between September 10 and November 1.
Opening reception with artist & curator in attendance
Wednesday, September 3, 2025, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Free, at the Gallery
Join artist Raven Chacon and curator Marie-Ann Yemsi to celebrate the opening of the exhibition Place Where the Waters Crossed, presented as part of the 19th edition of Momenta Biennale d’art contemporain. The opening event is also part of La Rentrée Concordia 2025.
La Rentrée Concordia 2025
Next Wednesday, September 3rd, is La Rentrée Concordia:
Two venues, two opening receptions, four exhibitions, four artists.
The FOFA Gallery and the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery invite you to celebrate the kickoff of the fall 2025 cultural season at Concordia University. For the occasion, each gallery will present the opening reception of their respective exhibitions with artists in attendance. Don’t miss the first event of the fall. Refreshments will be provided.
See you soon!
Place Where the Waters Crossed
This series of public programs is part of the exhibition Place Where the Waters Crossed as part of Momenta Biennale d’art contemporain. Presented in gallery from September 3 to November 1, 2025.