X’ene’s Witness is a contemporary opera conceived and directed by multidisciplinary artist Justen Leroy, and commissioned and presented by LAND (Los Angeles Nomadic Division) AT THE MARCIANO ART FOUNDATION.

A continuation of Leroy’s critically acclaimed installation Lay Me Down in Praise (2022) presented by the California African American Museum and Art + Practice, X’ene’s Witness employs sound as an entrypoint to emphasize Black Environmentalism within the Anthropocene, the current geological age in which humans are the foremost influence on climate and ecosystems.

Through the performance, Leroy aims to foreground the unfiltered emotion, a sensual reckoning, that can only exist at the juncture where words break down. Perhaps the current moment, in which we face the inconceivable scope of climate disaster, may only be felt. Utilizing sound and movement to fill the gap created by the failure of language, Leroy invokes the history of Black vocal traditions, particularly R&B and Soul vocal nuances that communicate resistance and liberation.

Composed by Leroy, Alexander Hadyn AND X’ENE SKY, the score alludes to contemporary anxieties and terror. A Classical musician and performance artist, Sky lends voice and piano as the oracle and vessel for Earth’s expression, while movement artist Qwenga interprets the grievances of the planet felt in the body. X’ene’s Witness is an attempt to create space where climate consciousness can be accessed without words, or frameworks–rather relying on sound to start conversation. Leroy contends that the musical stylings–the screams, vocal runs, wails–of Black vocalists can act as the score for the planet's stirrings, felt in the tectonic shifts of the Earth, or the silent sighs of trees.