claire rousay

claire rousay’s music zeroes in on personal emotions and the minutiae of everyday life—voicemails, haptics, environmental recordings, stopwatches, whispers and conversations—layering them with electronics in patient, poetic arrangements and exploding their significance. Personal relationships suffuse recent releases like it was always worth it and a softer focus, revealed through specific sounds (an intimate letter read aloud, an excerpted field recording from a backyard hangout) and forming the basis for the collaborations and experiences that fundamentally shape each work.

For this concert coinciding with Smashing into my heart, a group exhibition at the Renaissance Society that looks at friendship as a condition, a model, and a metaphor for art, rousay performs solo in the Logan Center Penthouse. The event is free, but capacity is limited; register in advance for guaranteed entry. A small number of tickets will be available at the door.

All attendees must show one of the following to be admitted: proof of COVID-19 vaccination (vaccine card or photo of vaccine card); documented negative result from a COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of the event; or a current University of Chicago I.D. card.

claire rousay is based in San Antonio, Texas. She has released music on a range of labels, most notably Astral Spirits, Second Editions, Longform Editions, and American Dreams. rousay’s music has received acclaim from NPR, which writes that rousay “enchants the ordinary,” and Pitchfork, which calls her music “quietly devastating.” rousay has presented music at venues like Issue Project Room, Casa Del Lago (CDMX) and Salon De Normandy (Paris), among many others, and held residencies at Rhizome DC and Elastic Arts Exposure Series, and performed with musicians such as Ken Vandermark, Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten, Jacob Wick, and Tom Carter.