Norman Rockwell Museum Presents “Norman Rockwell: Paintings in Song”
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Freedom of Worship, 1943. Oil on canvas, 46″ x 35 ½”. Story illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, February 27, 1943. Norman Rockwell Museum Collections. ©SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN
Stockbridge, MA, February 28, 2017—Norman Rockwell Museum will present Norman Rockwell: Paintings in Song, a panel discussion and documentary screening, on Saturday, March 18, starting at 5:30 p.m. Berkshire-based composer John Myers, Crescendo artistic director Christine Gevert, and documentary producer Rich Bradway, will discuss “Paintings in Song,” nine musical works inspired by Rockwell’s artwork, during this talk and behind-the-scenes screening that previews the group’s upcoming concert performances. Myers and Gevert will offer insights into the creative process and compositional highlights of the choral work that will have its world premiere on April 1 at Saint James Place in Great Barrington, Massachusetts; and April 2 at Kent School in Kent, Connecticut. The pre-concert talk is free for Museum members, or included with Museum admission; $10 for the discussion only.
Norman Rockwell and Alice Parker: Visions of America in Art and Song
This April, Connecticut-based music organization Crescendo will present the concert program Norman Rockwell and Alice Parker: Visions of America in Art and Song. In collaboration with the Norman Rockwell Museum, Berkshire Children’s Chorus and composer John Myers, Crescendo will perform the world premiere of Myers’ “Paintings in Song—Visions of Norman Rockwell,” a multimedia work with choruses, instrumentalists, and graphic animation. Myers’ work celebrates Norman Rockwell’s timeless images in a musical setting and highlights the continued relevance of the cultural values represented in Rockwell’s paintings.
The concerts will be held Saturday, April 1, at Saint James Place in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, at 3 and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, April 2, at Kent School’s Mattinson Auditorium in Kent, Connecticut, at 4 p.m.; and will be conducted by Crescendo’s Founder and Artistic Director Christine Gevert.
Myers’ music is accompanied by simultaneous large-screen projected animations based on each of the paintings. Graphic artists Alice Myers and Anna Sabatini created them using digital technology to portray the paintings as dynamic visual elements, while retaining much of their original character. Norman Rockwell Museum has provided critical conceptual and interpretive support in the realization of these animations.
The full concert includes selections of traditional American folk songs arranged by Alice Parker and Robert Shaw. Ms. Parker, a distinguished composer, choral arranger, conductor and Berkshires’ resident, suggested a repertoire that would complement the themes evoked in the Rockwell paintings. Featured is traditional music from three centuries including a cappella works by William Billings, jazz legend Dave Brubeck and a new work (July 2016) by young composer Jonny Priano.
For more information and to buy tickets to the concerts, visit worldclassmusic.org/buy-tickets