Untitled - Opus 3 Artists

“Being turned on to the
­remarkable performer Rinde
Eckhardt, a singer/actor who
stole the show in my mind with
the world premiere of “Slide”,
his collaboration with Steven
­Mackey that was part opera,
part performance art, and ­purely
amazing. If one of those ­secretive
MacArthur Genius Grant award
judges was in the audience,
I hope they give him one.”
Daily Sound, June 2009
“Steve Mackey and Rinde
­Eckert’s premiere of “Slide”
(Mackey as composer and
electric guitarist, Eckert as
­librettist, actor and singer)
rocked the Bowl with an opera/
song-cycle blend that provided
food for thought along with
bursts of musical narrative.”
Slide is a concert-length music/theater work featuring new ­music ensemble eighth ­blackbird,
­actor/singer Rinde Eckert, and ­composer/ p
­ erformer Steve Mackey.
Eckert plays Renard, ­an ­enigmatic ­psychologist who struggles to ­describe an ­experiment
­examining ­reactions to in- and out-of-focus slides. The ­results reveal that our ­decisions are
based on habits or c­ onventions that make it ­difficult for us to see clearly.
eighth blackbird and Steven Mackey take onstage roles in the story. The music is played partly
from memory, and projected images play an important role. Slide is an unmediated exploration and expression of sound, text, movement and image and works well in both concert halls
and theater spaces.
Ventura County Star, June 2009
“Written specifically for eighth
blackbird, the work -- which
defies easy categorization -yoked choreography to the
group’s playing; its members
moved about the stage in
various configurations while a
gyrating Mr. Eckert ­bewailed
his fate as a disgruntled
­scientist jilted at the altar.”
Wall Street Journal, June 2009
“The staging uses ­minimal
props… blurry, evocative ­images
are projected on screens: a
dog running, trees, a woman’s
­indistinct face. ­(Mackey’s)
­music, brilliantly played by the
blackbird, mostly comprises
short, jabbing ­phrases that
underscore
Eckert/Renard’s
description of the experiment
in his clear, strong tenor.”
Musical America, June 2009
Steve Rinde
Mackey Eckert
Steven Mackey has composed for ­orchestras,
chamber ensembles, dance and opera.
­Carnegie Hall ­presented a portrait concert of
his work on their “Making ­Music” series, in
2006 and in June 2008 the BBC ­Philharmonic
presented a 3-day ­festival of Mackey’s work.
Rinde Eckert, the 2009 recipient of The Alpert
Award in the Arts for Theatre and finalist for
the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Drama, is a writer,
composer, performer and director. ­Celebrated
for his remarkably flexible and inventive
­singing voice and electric physical presence,
his Opera/New Music Theatre productions tour
­throughout America and to major festivals in
Europe and Asia.
Booking
Opus 3 Artists
(212) 584-7500
[email protected]
www.opus3artists.com
California Artists
Management
Sue Endrizzi
(707) 937-4787
[email protected]