Kickstarter

"You are the Rembrandt of operatic jazz."

-from a review of Autumn Song

I am creating the next layer of a long-term musical project based on the poetry of 19th century Austrian-German poet Rainer Maria Rilke. This layer brings in a theatrical element in a performance that explores what a musical conversation might have sounded like between Rilke and 20th century American theater great Tennessee Williams, who found inspiration in Rilke’s words as he transformed from heartbroken beach bum to iconic playwright. 

I already have secured three performances of 1 hour and 10 minutes on the program for the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival Sept. 20-23. I have composed the music and hired the musicians, lighting, costume, and sound designers, and actors/vocalists who will portray Rilke and Williams. All I need is funding to help me complete the script, pay the cast, rehearse the piece and fund our travel to the Tennessee Williams Fest, which draws the ideal audience for a piece like this. 

The piece, called “Autumn Song,” is like my Sistine Chapel in that it’s an earlier work that will probably take my lifetime to build. Even as I add to it and touch it up, it continues to transform. I have received enough critical input on the concept and music that I know this is something I need to continue pursuing, and it is definitely the most artistically significant performance I have ever written. 

The music is my interpretation of Rilke’s poetry, a song cycle based on 13 of Rilke’s poems that I completed in 2009 and have performed to critical acclaim. I have spent a lot of time with Rilke’s work and went so far as to take two trips to Prague, Rilke’s birthplace, so I could immerse myself in the settings where he wrote many of his poems. I feel I’ve captured the essence of each poem and found a way to use sound to illuminate his words from underneath, so they leap off of the page into another sensory experience through music that touches on gospel, jazz and art song. 

“Autumn Song” adds theatrical performance to illustrate the areas where Rainer Maria Rilke and Tennessee Williams dovetail. Williams was a fan of Rilke, and their works shares subtle similarities. My vision is to create a script that uses music to explore a conversation between Rilke and Williams had they ever had the opportunity to meet. 

It’s exciting to produce a work of this depth, and I see it as spiritual but not religious, a meditation that also surprises, and a far-reaching project rich with imagery, musical textures and, now, the visual aspect of theater, to capture the meaning of Rilke’s words a century after he wrote them. 

Your support will help me create a performance that will let audiences experience Rainer Maria Rilke, or Tennessee Williams, or both, in new ways.

Here are more reviews from the first public performance of Autumn Song:

"Beautiful and energizing."

"Rousing success.  Virtually every seat was full."

"Spectacular evening...so glad to have been there in person, witnessing the complexities, subtleties, and amazing musicians/actors!"

"The singers totally blew me away." 

"Impressive execution of great composition."

"Heartfelt thanks for an AMAZING experience. Words would only diminish it. Suffice to say that it was a "happening" that I will remember for a very long time. You are a gifted, insightful artist who paints with an extremely broad yet delicate palette. I don't understand how you do it....but I'm so glad that you do. You bring beauty into this world."