CELL DELETION
BIOGRAPHY
Cell Deletion is an experimental music and performance project exploring narrative journeys between embodied, analogue and digital sound, consisting of Sonnie Carlebach and Ushara Dilrukshan. As a “noise opera” duo, we construct charged, atmospheric journeys that sit between ambient, drone, noise and operatic lament. Moments of devastating vocal intensity dissolve into fragile acoustic textures and granular electronics; bodies, voices, strings, wires and circuits fold into one another to form narrative scenes that challenge conventional modes of listening.
Working with tape manipulation, live instrumentation, operatic vocals and theatrical monologue, we create immersive sonic environments that blur the line between concert, story and embodied performance. Our practice approaches sound as a dramaturgical force — a way of building worlds in which narrative, emotion and noise are inseparable. Formed initially for the IRCAM Forum 2024 as an experimental dialogue between tape and code, Cell Deletion has since expanded into a broader sonic-theatre language, performing across Europe, including ISCIAN (Milan), 90Mil (Berlin) and multiple venues in London, including LOST.
During our ongoing residency at Brompton Cemetery Chapel (2024–2026), we have continued to develop this vocabulary. In September, we were commissioned to create Landscape Silence and Night for London Design Week, responding to the theme A Softer World. Working with twelve performers, we devised a large-scale experimental piece combining sound, movement and visual practice inside the Grade II–listed chapel. Our five-day open studio allowed the public to witness the unfolding of the process, encouraging encounters between audience, performers and space. This commitment to openness and experimentation underpins our approach to storytelling and performance.
During our ongoing residency at Brompton Cemetery Chapel (2024–2026), we have continued to develop this vocabulary. In September, we were commissioned to create Landscape Silence and Night for London Design Week, responding to the theme A Softer World. Working with twelve performers, we devised a large-scale experimental piece combining sound, movement and visual practice inside the Grade II–listed chapel. Our five-day open studio allowed the public to witness the unfolding of the process, encouraging encounters between audience, performers and space. This commitment to openness and experimentation underpins our approach to storytelling and performance.
NOTABLE INSTITUTION WORK:
SAOM, Spanners
Lost Club Night
Etherial Maison
Three Wheel Drive Festival
Battersea Arts Club
The Fleece, Bristol
Brompton Cemetery
The Waiting Room
Bath Houses, Niche LND
Ethereal Maison
Brompton Cemetery
The George’s Tavern, Weird & Wired
The Old Church, Stoke Newington, YLIASTER
ISCIAN, Milan, ISCIAN
St John's, Bethnal Green, White Noise
Garden House, White City, IED festival
Bath Houses, Hackney, Niche LDN
IRCAM, Paris, IRCAM FORUM
SET, Woolich, Solid State
Peanut Factory, Hackney, Banquet of Sound
Peckham Audio, Spectra
Four Quarters, Peclham, White Noise
St Johns, Bethnal Green, White Noise
December 25
November 25
November 25
August 25
July 2025
July 2025
June 2025
April 2025
March 2025
March 2025
February 2025
January 2025
November 2024
November 2024
October 2024
July 2024
June 2024
March 2024
March 2024
April 2024
February 2024
February 2024
November 202
Fractals
available to watch upon request
Landscape Silence and Night
VIEW
Veilwork
VIEW
Feedback for Three Amps and Voice
LISTEN
Come Outside
produced by Peter Collis: available to watch upon request
After Hunger
available to watch upon request
December 2025: Brompton Cemetery
September 2025: LONDON DESIGN WEEK
With Brompton Ensemble
July 2025: Brompton Cemetery
With Eka Zharinova; Bashar Hassanieh; Damara Velazquez; Seamus Green; Tanya Rojas
March 2025: Brompton Cemetery
January 2025: POPPY JASPER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
July 2024: RCA