Harry Partch’s Delusion of the Fury

December 6, 2007
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Performance past event

Centennial Commission First Ever Re-staging

Tuesday, December 4 and 
Thursday through Saturday, December 6 – 8  at 7:30 pm
Pre-performance lecture on Thursday, December 6 at 6:30 pm.  

The late iconoclastic American composer Harry Partch (1901-74) was an innovative theorist who designed and created dozens of unique instruments for the performance of his music. Now, for the first time, Japan Society commissions and produces the unprecedented re-staging of Partch’s Delusion of the Fury, a large-scale musical theater piece that has never been remounted since its first production in 1969.

Built upon the timeless theme of life and death, Delusion of the Fury is based on two Japanese noh plays and an African folktale. Celebrated theater artist and MacArthur Fellow grantee John Jesurun directs and designs the production with award-winning composer/conductor and Harry Partch expert Dean Drummond as musical director in a rare production with Partch’s original instruments, performed upon by Newband (http://www.newband.org).  Multi-disciplinary performer Dawn Akemi Saito choreographs the production, completing the tour-de-force.

For the pre-performance lecture on December 6, W. Anthony Sheppard, musicologist and Professor of Music at Williams College, discusses the important influence of Japanese theater and music on composer Harry Partch’s career.

Tickets: $52/$45 Japan Society members.  12/6 lecture is free to ticker-holders.  Purchase tickets online below or call the Box Office at (212) 715-1258.

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  • Thursday, December 6, 2007
  • 7:30 pm