Miriam Elhajli

Folk singer, improviser, musicologist, and clown Miriam Elhajli is based out of Flatbush, Brooklyn. Her nuanced work is influenced equally by her Venezuelan and Moroccan heritage, nonsense theatre, and her research at The Association for Cultural Equity and Citylore, nonprofits dedicated to preserving New York City’s oral histories and culture. Her performances are multifaceted and thoughtful with sounds that borrow from Appalachian country tunes, agitprop spoken word, Argentinian zamba, and noise. Cherishing the street performer equally as the high-brow artist, Elhajli has performed alongside Anne Waldman, Bread and Puppet, Shahzad Ismaily, Raven Chacone, Orquesta Akokán, and Savannah Harris. She has performed locally at Lincoln Center, The Whitney Museum, and the Noguchi Museum alongside farms, basements, and friends’ homes. Elhajli is releasing her fifth album this year on Numina Records, a label she founded to aid in the documentation of women’s music and poetics in the Maghreb and around the world.