BOWERY MUSIC + POETRY + FILM

H. Paul Moon presents a season of flowing theatrical encounters for you with chamber music, spoken word poetry, and film projections at Bowery Poetry Club. Next in September, after April's debut event, is “Dreaming Poetry Into Music” with Duo della Luna.

Tuesday, September 30 at Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, NYC

4:00pm workshop, Duo della Luna and participants will explore live interactive experiments with words and music / free admission

7:30pm concert, doors open 6:30pm with cash bar / $20 admission, in advance or at the door

Composer/vocalist Susan Botti and violinist Airi Yoshioka as Duo della Luna present a program of works fusing poetry with music – featuring a new piece by Botti in collaboration with the Dream Project Writing for Resilience Cohort. Profoundly resonant during this time of immigration policy disruption, the new work is fueled by the poetry and experiences of this collective of “Dreamers” (undocumented and asylum-seeking youth) and hopes to amplify their voices. The performance will also include works of powerful poetry by Reza Baraheni, Elizabeth Bradfield, Serena Sue Hilsinger, Rachel O’Neill, Lewis Carroll, and Hafiz; and music by composers Ashkan Behzadi, Eliza Brown, Linda Dusman, Salina Fisher, and Reena Esmail. (Before the show, Duo della Luna also will run a workshop with/for poets using improvisation to creatively intersect words with music – an experience for you to watch or join before the evening performance.)

bios:

Duo della Luna (Susan Botti and Airi Yoshioka, http://duodellaluna.com) performs eclectic contemporary chamber music in an unusual combination of voice and violin. The duo’s wide-ranging repertoire includes re-imagined existing works, newly commissioned works (including undiscovered voices), and diverse folk music arrangements. As solo artists, Susan and Airi have devoted their musical careers to new music. After performing together in various chamber settings, Airi commissioned Susan to write a work for just voice and violin, resulting in Botti’s Mangetsu (below). Realizing that there was a special spark when the music was stripped down to just their two voices intertwined, and recognizing the vibrant synergy of this new artistic voice, they formed Duo della Luna to explore this unique and intimate musical world. The duo has performed in the US, Canada, and Italy, and released their debut album in 2021 (New Focus) to critical acclaim. It features contemporary works by Susan Botti, Kaija Saariaho, Linda Dusman, Botti’s arrangements of selected duos by Béla Bartók (originally for two violins), and arrangements of folksongs from Italy and the US.

H. Paul Moon (zenviolence.com) is a filmmaker based in New York City whose works concentrate on the performing arts, including “Sitka: A Piano Documentary” about the craftsmanship of Steinway pianos, “Quartet for the End of Time” about Olivier Messiaen’s transcendent WWII composition, and an acclaimed feature film about the life and music of American composer Samuel Barber that premiered on PBS. Moon has created music videos for numerous composers including Moondog, Susan Botti and Angélica Negrón, and three opera films set in a community garden, along with “The Passion of Scrooge” awarded “Critic's Choice” by Opera News. He also was cinematographer for director Josephine Decker's “First Day Out” in the anthology film “collective:unconscious.” He is currently finishing another documentary feature about Western poetry, additions to his project “Whitman on Film,” and settings of poems by Bob Holman. His films have been screened to live audiences at over two hundred film festivals around the world, with several awards and museum exhibitions. Highlights include works featured in exhibitions at the Nevada Museum of Art and the City Museum of New York, PBS television broadcasts, and best of show awards in over a dozen international film festivals.

Rick Butler has designed lighting for Tsai Fung Dance Co., The Juilliard School, and Yale Repertory Theater, and was formerly resident lighting designer at Classic Stage Co. for productions such as “Faust” and “Brand”. Initially working as an assistant to veteran lighting designers Tom Skelton and Jennifer Tipton, he later apprenticed in the studio of legendary set designer Ming Cho Lee. He has designed for numerous productions Off-Broadway, and for Ballet, Modern Dance, and Opera.

This project is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, New York, United States