events

The Art of Sound - The Sound of Art
Friday, January 25, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
8:00 p.m.
"Painted Music"
with painting performance by artist Don Kimes
Intermission
  “Aesop Suite”
timeless fables as narrated by Bob Bennett

Created and Directed by Jerzy Sapieyevski

Jerzy Sapieyevski, composer/pianist
Don Kimes, painter
Robert S. Bennett, narrator

AESOP SUITE:                                                                                             BACK to "Painted Music"  
It is believed that Aesop lived around 600 B.C.  Born a slave, on a Greek island, he was given his freedom for his wit and intellect, and served as an emissary to a local ruler.  An observant and wise person, he had great comprehension of psychology and understanding of human motivation.  In the end, his brilliance, fame, and irreverence for class structure, cost him his life.  He was accused of theft, by people who planted a sacred gold trophy in his baggage, and sentenced to death. 
 
Aesop’s fables are concise portraits of humanity and through symbolism, provide universal meaning.  The power of these tales lies in the fact that no value judgment is made by the narrator who, while depicting human, often thoughtless behavior, accepts it as fate or God’s will.  As in music, each listener responds to the way he identifies with the allegory.  Each fable delivers a moral concept or presents an ethical question.  There is a temptation on the part of modern editions to state the “moral” of each story.  However, in a well designed and masterfully delivered narration, the meaning becomes subliminal and part of the artistic ambiance. 
 
Musical elements lurk in gifted oratorical arguments.  Every speech has its tone, rhythm, tempo, crescendos and diminuendos - compositional elements leading the listener to its content and meaning. Some speeches are like concertos.  Some others are less musical and on occasion, are tone deaf.   An orator might not be aware of this phenomenon because his skill is subconscious and an intangible aspect of talent and instinct. In many areas of endeavor great performances of any kind reveal a certain innate musicianship – even sport, via the gestures and rhythms of a great quarterback; the flow and harmony in a basketball game; or pace and beat of “duet” of a championship tennis match possesses this quality.  
 
It is “musically” rewarding to hear a great trial lawyer explore this synergy.  Bob Bennett has both the skill and persona to convey these fables so that they inspire.  His interest and exposure to music, together with his many years of legal advocacy, enlighten this performance.
 
The Performers

 Jerzy Sapieyevski, NewCenturyMusic founder and artistic director, brings innovative ideas to the concert stage and music education.   His commissions and performances include the Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, Carnegie Hall, the John Paul II Foundation, and numerous radio and television programs.  His score for the Shakespeare Theatre's Production of Richard III was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award, and he is a recipient of several ASCAP Awards.   In 2005 Jerzy Sapieyevski was decorated with the "Knight Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland".   As a university professor, he contributes a unique expertise in combining various artistic media.   Sapieyevski has also lectured on "Cultural Diplomacy" at the Foreign Service Institute and delivered very popular pre-concert talks at the Kennedy Center.   Acknowledged in The Oxford Dictionary of Music, he is especially interested in creating interactive works that bring together various disciplines. This collaboration with painter Don Kimes, and attorney Bob Bennett, is one example of such approach.

Robert S. Bennett is a prominent member of the defense bar and one of the most influential lawyers in America.  A former federal prosecutor, he successfully represented two Secretaries of Defense, Clark Clifford (Democrat) and Caspar Weinberger (Republican), and has served as Special Counsel to the United States Senate’s Select Committee on Ethics.  He was President Clinton’s personal attorney in the Paula Jones case, and represented Judith Miller in the CIA leak investigation. Bennett also sits on the Court of Arbitration for Sport. His book, IN THE RING - The Trials of a Washington Lawyer, is published by Crown Books.

Don Kimes divides his time between Italy, Chautauqua, NY and Washington, D.C.  His work has been presented in more than 30 solo and 100 group exhibitions throughout the United States, as well as in Mexico, Germany and Italy.  He was also a recipient of a Medici Medal at the 2001 Florence International Biennale of Contemporary Art and has received several international awards.    Prof. Kimes has been a member of AU Art Department faculty since 1988. He is also Artistic Director in the Visual Arts at the Chautauqua Institution.  He has been a visiting artist at the International School of Art in Umbria, the Universidad Juarez Autonoma in Mexico, Harvard, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Cleveland Institute of Art, Parsons, Maryland College of Art, Cooper Union, and many others.  

Assisted by Sharon Servilio and Sarah Vanell; Videographer and Imagist - M Drehd; Visual Effects Artists - Emerson Williams, Alex Parker; Technical Support - Matt Weiner; Stage manager - Jeremy King; Lighting - Chris Kelly; Facilities Manager - Jason T. Lurie; PR - Catherine Gannon; General assistance - Alice Stewart, Karolina Jeznach;


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