The Petrouchka Project, Mythos/Melos Depicts the Intertwining Threads of Music and Narrative

Concert Make-up Date: SATURDAY, May 11, 8pm, Jewett Auditorium

Wellesley College presents “The Petrouchka Project, Mythos/Melos: The Intertwining Threads of Music and Narrative,” a collection of works that involve the intimate marriage of music (Melos) with some extra-musical narrative or theatrical element (Mythos). A lecture and recital will took place on Wednesday, February 6 at 12:30 PM, in Jewett Auditorium. A concert, originally scheduled for February 9, 2013 was postponed due to weather. The make-up date is Saturday, May 11 at 8 PM. Free and open to the public.

Saturday, acclaimed faculty pianists Lois Shapiro and Randall Hodgkinson present a rare two-piano performance of Stravinsky's revolutionary ballets Petrouchka and The Firebird, plus new original works. Wellesley faculty composer Martin Brody, Catherine Mills Davis Professor of Music, presents the world premiere of “True Pete,” a work which explores Petrouchka by inverting Stravinsky's approach to the character as existential persona.

The concert will feature performance art as well. Colin Gee, former artist-in-residence at the Whitney and principal clown with the Cirque du Soleil, has spent a week in residency working with students (from departments including Theatre Studies, Art, Music, and the Russian Area Studies Program) and collaborating with Brody to develop a visual performance to complement Brody’s new musical score.

Stravinsky's ballet Petrouchka depicts the story of the life, love, and death of the puppet Petrouchka. Originally scored for orchestra, it was scored for four-hand piano by the composer himself. The ballet gained popularity after avant-garde puppet troupe Basil Twist staged a revival at Lincoln Center in 2001.