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, Mass.) – Berkshire-based composer John Myers, Crescendo artistic director Christine Gevert, and documentary producer Rich Bradway will discuss “Norman Rockwell: Paintings in Song,” featuring a panel discussion and documentary screening, at Norman Rockwell Museum on Saturday, March 18, at 5:30 pm. The program previews Crescendo’s upcoming concert performances of nine musical works inspired by Rockwell’s artwork, including the world premiere of Myers’s “Paintings in Song — Visions of Norman Rockwell,” a multimedia work with choruses, instrumentalists, and graphic animation, at Saint James Place in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday, April 1, at 3 and 7pm.; and at Kent School’s Mattinson Auditorium in Kent, Conn., on Sunday, April 2, at 4pm.
At the museum event, Myers and Gevert will offer insights into the creative process and compositional highlights of Myers’s composition.
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.
Christine Gevert (photo Steven Potter)
Myers’s 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 Norman Rockwell and Alice Parker: Visions of America in Art and Song.
About the Norman Rockwell Museum
The Norman Rockwell Museum is dedicated to education and art appreciation inspired by the legacy of Norman Rockwell. The Museum holds the world’s largest and most significant collection of art and archival materials relating to Rockwell’s life and work, while also preserving, interpreting, and exhibiting a growing collection of art by other American illustrators throughout history. The Museum engages diverse audiences through onsite and traveling exhibitions, as well as publications, arts and humanities programs, and comprehensive online resources.
The Museum’s dedication to a deepened understanding of the art of illustration has led to the formation of the Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies. The first of its kind in the nation, this research institute supports sustained scholarship and establishes the Museum’s leadership in the vanguard of preservation and interpretation relating to this important aspect of American visual culture.
Located on 36 park-like acres in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Rockwell’s hometown for the last 25 years of his life, the Museum is open seven days a week, year-round; closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Museum hours from May through October are: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, open until 7 p.m. on Thursdays during the month of August; from November through April: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends and holidays. Rockwell’s studio is open May through October, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Museum admission is $18, $17 for seniors, $10 for students, $6 for children and teens 6 to 18, and free for Museum members and children 5 and under.
Norman Rockwell Museum welcomes active U.S. military members with free admission throughout the year. Additionally, we are a Blue Star museum and offer active U.S. military personnel and their immediate family, complimentary admission from Memorial Day through Labor Day.