FRAMEWORKS | Zora Nelson + Amira Zia Jafri: Sonic Intersections

Sonic Intersections is an interdisciplinary live performance by Amira Zia Jafri and Zora Nelson. Blending harp, viola, poetry, and electronic textures, their work moves fluidly between jazz, classical orchestration, spoken poetry, and avant-garde experimentation. Rooted in the artists’ identities as first-generation Americans and women of color, and inspired by the Wende Museum’s past exhibition Intersections: The Architecture of Victor Adegbite and Charles Polónyi in Ghana, this collaboration draws inspiration from Accra, Ghana’s historic role as a meeting ground for ideas and cultural transformation. Through sonic exchange and thematic composition, Nelson and Jafri celebrate Accra as an epicenter of cultural exchange, political imagination, and creative renewal.

In this 2026 season of the Wende Museum’s experimental music series FRAMEWORKS, each featured artist will develop an interdisciplinary performance considering both domestic and public spaces as they relate to the artist’s singular perspective. The artists will reflect on the subtle implications of space, as functional and measurable records of cities or cultures; versus place, the conceptual and felt imaginings of the familiar or alien. Embodying the Wende’s ethos of promoting research into dynamic global networks and processes of transformation through an experimental lens, the series’ bimonthly, site-specific performances examine the “frameworks” through which we narrate the past and imagine the future; they complement the Museum’s exhibitions and programs while simultaneously acting as channels to contemporary scenes alive in Los Angeles.

Amira Zia Jafri is a composer, producer, and performer whose work spans classical and jazz composition, global electronic music, and interdisciplinary performance. Working across viola, piano, and digital production, she explores the relationship between sound and storytelling through screen scoring and immersive sonic environments. Her work has been presented at LUmkA Gallery and Susan Inglett Gallery in New York City, where she merges her classical training with experimental electronic practices to create layered, avant-garde compositions. Since 2022, she has DJed and hosted independent music events in New York, cultivating spaces for global club and experimental sound. She is currently conducting research in Mexico City while developing her first platformed releases across multiple genres.

Zora Nelson is a Los Angeles–based harpist and poet, born and raised on the East Coast. A natural storyteller, she uses her work to amplify the voices of the unheard and the marginalized. Moving at the intersection of classical fine arts, Zora fuses these mediums to reclaim agency, illuminate her experiences as a Black woman in America, and cultivate spaces where all identities can feel seen. She is a recent graduate of New York University, where she earned a Bachelor of Music with minors in Creative Writing and Media, Culture, and Communication. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at the University of Southern California.

Doors to the A-Frame Theater will open at 1:45 p.m. and the performance will begin at 2 p.m., followed by a garden reception until 4 p.m.

Please note that the A-Frame Theater doors will close promptly at the start of the performance, and late entry will not be permitted.

RSVPs for this free program do not guarantee admission to the A-Frame Theater. Limited seating will be available on a first come, first served basis.

An ADA-accessible entrance to the Glorya Kaufman Community Center is available through the garden gate from the parking lot, which will open at 1:30 p.m.

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