Storyteller, songwriter, and musician Shanta Nurullah performs solo in the ESS garden for the first time.
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Walk-ins welcome; reservations recommended

Experimental Sound Studio presents a solo performance by iconic Chicago storyteller and musician Shanta Nurullah.

This performance and interview are presented in the ESS garden, and will be premiered online on ESS’s YouTube.

The OPTION series is curated by Ken Vandermark, Lily Finnegan, and Andrew Clinkman.

About Shanta Nurullah

Shanta Nurullah was born into a musical family and studied piano and tap dancing throughout her formative years. While in college, she was able to travel to India and study Indian Classical music and the sitar. Shanta has been performing professionally as a musician since 1972, and as a storyteller since 1978. After college, Shanta immersed herself in the Black Arts Movement as a member of the Kuumba Workshop, Kelan Phil Cohran’s Black Music Workshop, and associating with writers, visual artists, dancers, and members of the AACM.

Shanta formed her first band in 1978 and went on to co-found the all-women’s ensembles Sojourner and Samana, the first female band in the AACM. With these groups, and others, Shanta has performed in venues across the country, distinguishing herself as a sitarist and bassist exploring African-American improvisational music. Her current projects include the band Sitarsys, the duo ShaZah, and Freedom Song Leaders, a vocal ensemble.

Shanta has received an Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship, the Zora Neale Hurston Award from the National Association of Black Storytellers, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Mutual Mentorship for Musicians(M3). A 2021 3Arts Awardee, she has received grants from the Nevada Arts Council, the American Association of University Women and the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Shanta has an original story on permanent display at Brookfield Zoo (IL) and has been a storytelling teacher and mentor for many years.

Journey with Shanta through story, song, sitar and mbira.

www.shantastoryteller.com

About OPTION

OPTION is an ongoing music salon curated by Chicago musicians Andrew Clinkman, Lily Finnegan, and Ken Vandermark and presented by Experimental Sound Studio. Its programming explores contemporary perspectives on improvisation and composition in a ‘salon’ format, enabling local, national, and international artists to publicly discuss their practice and ideas as well as perform.

Parking

Street parking can be found easily around ESS on streets such as W. Thorndale. There are three parking spots directly in front of ESS on Ravenswood. On weekends, parking is also available along the front of Weber Furniture; please do not block the garage doors. Behind ESS through the alley, there are also two parking spots which we are happy to reserve for anyone with accessibility needs. Please get in touch with info@ess.org to reserve a spot.

During the OPTION series this summer, diagonal parking is available in the alley directly south of ESS and Weber Furniture Service.

Accessibility

ESS has wheelchair seating and accessible bathrooms on both floors.

Please note that once on one floor, there is no ADA-accessible path inside the building to switch between floors; you will have to exit the building and reenter from the respective floor entrance. Our front entrance on Ravenswood leads you to our 1st floor (Audible Gallery, Studio A, Live Room), while our alley entrance leads you to the basement/garden (garden shows, Creative Audio Archive, Studio B).

To reserve accessible seating or parking, request other accommodations, or ask us any accessibility-related questions, please email info@ess.org.

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Tags: Chicago, Edgewater, ess, Experimental Sound Studio, OPTION: Shanta Nurullah, Shanta Nurullah