GELSEY BELL.
a multidisciplinary performance creator, composer, and vocalist who works in opera, theatre, music, sound walk, and installation
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY.
Gelsey Bell (she/they) is a Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary performance creator, composer, and vocalist. Her recent works include the experimental opera mɔɹnɪŋ [morning//mourning] (2023), commissioned by the HERE Arts Center and presented in the Prototype Festival; Cairns (2020), a soundwalk for Green-Wood Cemetery; the musical one-act “Archaeopteris” (2025), commissioned by Wet Ink; and thingNY’s collaboratively written opera Mouthful (2024). She is the Co-Artistic Director of thingNY and Varispeed. She has released multiple albums, including the recent mɔɹnɪŋ [morning//mourning], Skylighght, and Heads Together. She has received awards from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Opera America, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Japan Foundation, NYSCA, and others. Performance highlights also include Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812 (Broadway) and Ghost Quartet, Robert Ashley’s Foreign Experiences and Improvement, Darius Jones’s Samesoul Maker, Alaina Ferris’s The Lydian Gale Parr, Aaron Siegel’s Rainbird, and other works by Jay Afrisando, Kate Soper, Tomomi Adachi, Brent Michael Davids, and others. www.gelseybell.com
ARTIST INTERVIEW.
Stay tuned for the interview, to be released on July 13.
Even if someone is alienated by certain musical techniques, they will find moments where there’s enough textual grounding... Some people will connect with the music, some will connect with the theater, and some will connect to the gorgeous visuals. My hope is that the piece will resonate on not just one but on all of those points for audience members.
one of
NEW YORK'S
MOST ADVENTUROUS MUSICIANS
THE NEW YORK TIMES
GALLERY.
Discover photos and videos from Gelsey's work.
CREDITS: "Thirds" by Gelsey Bell from thingNY's MOUTHFUL, performed by thingNY; "Death Comes Quick" by Gelsey Bell from thingNY's THIS TAKES PLACE CLOSE BY, photo by Michael Yu; SHUFFLEYAMAMBA by Yasuko Yokoshi with music by Gelsey Bell, photo by igaki photo studio, courtesy of Kinosaki International Arts Center, Toyooka City; HERE BE SIRENS by Kate Soper, performed by Brett Umlauf, Gelsey Bell, Kate Soper, photo by Ruby Washington; CAIRNS by Gelsey Bell, photo by Maria Baranova; BATHROOM SONGS by Gelsey Bell, photo by Reuben Radding; NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 by Dave Malloy; WEALTH FROM THE SALT SEAS by Anna Sperber with music by Gelsey Bell, performed by Gelsey Bell and Anna Sperber, photo by Maria Baranova; SKYLIGHGHT by Gelsey Bell and Erin Rogers, photo by Reuben Radding; HACK IT by Paul Pinto, performed by thingNY, photo by Karjaka Studios; PERFECT LIVES by Robert Ashley, arranged by Varispeed, photo by Elizabeth Proitsis; MƆɹNɪŊ [MORNING//MOURNING] by Gelsey Bell, performed by Gelsey Bell and Justin Hicks, photo by Maria Baranova; "Love is a Good Example" by Robert Ashley, arranged by Gelsey Bell, performed by Aliza Simons, Gelsey Bell, and Brian McCorkle, photo courtesy of Roulette; GHOST QUARTET by Dave Malloy, photo by Ryan Jensen.