National Sawdust Projects
National Sawdust Projects produces, incubates, and tours new interdisciplinary music projects that reflect the world we live in today as well as the world we imagine, and wish to cultivate, for the future.
With the belief that collaboration sustains artistic innovation, National Sawdust Projects brings together emerging and established artists with experts in music, film, history, science, and beyond to create new works that speak to themes of social justice, untold stories from unheard voices, technology, and the environment. Frequently drawing from the work of National Sawdust’s Artists-in-Residence and Projects-in-Residence programs, National Sawdust Projects takes works from ideation to execution and presents them to audiences around the world.
National Sawdust Projects is the producing arm of National Sawdust, a state–of–the–art concert venue and non-profit in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Originally conceived in 1999 as VisionIntoArt by Paola Prestini, National Sawdust Projects serves as a multimedia production company that “facilitates flamboyant, confounding, and enticing collaborations” (New York Times).
By presenting relevant, impactful new works on a global stage, National Sawdust Projects moves beyond the walls of our physical Brooklyn home to forge relationships between new audiences and the most innovative artists living today.
Touring Projects
Glass Handel
Anthony Roth Costanzo, the avant-garde fashion/art company VISIONAIRE, and producer Cath Brittan present Glass Handel, an hour-long live interdisciplinary installation produced by National Sawdust and Opera Philadelphia and co-presented by the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, on November 26–27. Eric Jacobsen will conduct The Knights, who accompany Costanzo for four performances over the two–day run.
August 7, 2018/by Zan EmersonMiyamoto is Black Enough
Miyamoto is Black Enough is a collaborative exploration of meaning and conversation; a contemporary band of hard driving rhythms and biting social commentary that utilizes steelpan, cello, drums, and spoken-word. Composed by Andy Akiho & performed by Andy Akiho, Roger Bonair-Agard, Sean Dixon, & Jeffrey Zeigler.
October 6, 2017/by caleb@greyship.comNo Revenge Necessary
No Revenge Necessary is a story about humans surviving in an environmentally scarred future. The story contains a surprise that awakens us to the quality and beauty that we as humans possess.
October 19, 2018/by Zan EmersonOceanic Verses
With a libretto by Donna Di Novelli, and poetry culled by Paola Prestini, “Oceanic Verses” is a 60 minute work featuring improviser Helga Davis, soprano Hila Plitmann, folksinger Claudio Prima and baritone Christopher Burchett.
December 10, 2018/by Zan EmersonLATENCY (featuring The Gauntlet)
An evening length performance about death, disappearance, and returning home. Directed and composed by Sxip Shirey with choreography by Coco Karol.
October 19, 2018/by Zan EmersonForward Music Project
The Forward Music Project is piece driven by social justice for girls and women. Seven composers were commission to write pieces for solo cello based on their personal story or an issue they wanted to bring to light. The stylistically contrasting compositions represent the vast definition of the female experience; ranging from issues of the LGBTQ+ community to reproductive rights to sexual violence and empowerment.
February 22, 2018/by Zan EmersonThe Colorado
The Colorado is a music-based documentary that explores the Colorado River Basin from social and ecological perspectives across history. Music composed by John Luther Adams, William Brittelle, Glenn Kotche, Shara Nova, and Paola Prestini.
October 6, 2017/by caleb@greyship.comTHE HUBBLE CANTATA
The Hubble Cantata is contemporary cantata composed by Paola Prestini for 2 soloists, choir and ensemble that culminates in a VR experience.
October 6, 2017/by caleb@greyship.comAGING MAGICIAN
An opera-theatre work composed by Paola Prestini featuring the Attacca Quartet & The Brooklyn Youth Chorus.
October 6, 2017/by caleb@greyship.comProjects in Development
Old Man and the Sea
An opera by Paola Prestini in collaboration with Robert Wilson, Jeffrey Zeigler, Helga Davis and Royce Vavrek.
October 6, 2017/by caleb@greyship.comTHE AMAZON
The mission of The Amazon is to cultivate a holistic understanding of the Amazon River Basin and, by exploring the intersection of art, ecology, and history, to contribute toward better stewardship of its resources. Film by Sylvestre Campe, Murat Eyuboglu, and Marcelo Fiorini. Composed by Paola Prestini and Jeffrey Zeigler.
February 5, 2018/by Zan EmersonFilm Stills
The Film Stills project pairs each of four of Cindy Sherman’s iconic Film Stills with a separate composition that takes the audience into the world of each scene. Directed by R.B. Schlather with composers Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, and Paola Prestini, libretto by Royce Vavrek, and starring Eve Gigliotti, mezzo-soprano.
February 2, 2018/by Zan EmersonLATENCY (featuring The Gauntlet)
An evening length performance about death, disappearance, and returning home. Directed and composed by Sxip Shirey with choreography by Coco Karol.
October 19, 2018/by Zan EmersonOceanic Verses
With a libretto by Donna Di Novelli, and poetry culled by Paola Prestini, “Oceanic Verses” is a 60 minute work featuring improviser Helga Davis, soprano Hila Plitmann, folksinger Claudio Prima and baritone Christopher Burchett.
December 10, 2018/by Zan EmersonNo Revenge Necessary
No Revenge Necessary is a story about humans surviving in an environmentally scarred future. The story contains a surprise that awakens us to the quality and beauty that we as humans possess.
October 19, 2018/by Zan EmersonSissieretta Jones
Through an up-close and personal concert experience, the unsung grand dame Sissieretta Jones becomes dimensional right in front of the audience’s eyes.
August 3, 2018/by beckiWe Were Fridays
In his most deeply personal project yet, Zeigler will travel back in time to tell the story of forbidden love, fractured lines and complex legacies, featuring music by Courtney Bryant.
August 3, 2018/by beckiAngelica Negron’s Chimera
Composer and multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón will develop her chamber opera Chimera, featuring seven different drag performers – including RuPaul’s Drag Race season 9 contestant Alexis Michelle – playing the same role, personifying the different sides of a single identity.
July 11, 2018/by beckiOther Projects
BIRDHEART
An intimate and stunning chamber piece of animated theater and live music, with two cellos, a sheet of brown paper, and a box of sand by Julian Crouch and Saskia Lane.
October 6, 2017/by caleb@greyship.com21C LIEDERABEND, OP. LA
The idea of a Liederabend – an evening of song – goes back to Schubertiads and the flowering of German Romantic poetry and song in the 1800s. A collaboration with Beth Morrison Projects.
October 17, 2017/by caleb@greyship.comCAPTURE/RELEASE
Immerse yourself in Capture/Release, an evening of five newly composed works, including three world premieres, with Lar Lubovitch and his critically acclaimed Dance Company, in honor of his 45th Anniversary with the Company and his 50th year in dance.
October 17, 2017/by caleb@greyship.com21C LIEDERABEND, OP.3 AT BAM
A collaboration with Beth Morrison Projects.The art-song recital is given fresh new life in the 21c Liederabend festival. Over the course of two evenings—with each featuring a distinct, dynamic program—video artists and lighting designers are paired with luminaries from the New York and international new-music scenes.
October 24, 2017/by caleb@greyship.com21C LIEDERABEND 2011 AT THE KITCHEN
A collaboration with Beth Morrison Projects.WORKS BY COMPOSERS - Mason Bates, Theo Bleckmann, Douglas J. Cuomo, Daniel Felsenfeld*, Peter Golub*, Ted Hearne, Gabriel Kahane, Phil Kline, David T. Little, Matt Marks*, Missy Mazzoli*, Milica Paranosic, Russell Platt, Paola Prestini*, Kamala Sankaram, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Gregory Spears, Julia Wolfe, Du Yun*, Lev Zhurbin, John Zorn
October 24, 2017/by caleb@greyship.com21C LIEDERABEND 2009 AT GALAPAGOS ART SPACE
A collaboration with Beth Morrison Projects.Instrumentalists: ETHEL accompanied by the VisionIntoArt ensemble and quartet
COMPOSERS - Caleb Burhans, Leah Coloff Corey Dargel, Osvaldo Golijov, Judd Greenstein, Ted Hearne, David T. Little , Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, Milica Paranosic, Paola Prestini
October 24, 2017/by caleb@greyship.comCOMPOSERS - Caleb Burhans, Leah Coloff Corey Dargel, Osvaldo Golijov, Judd Greenstein, Ted Hearne, David T. Little , Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, Milica Paranosic, Paola Prestini
JOHN ZORN’S THE HOLY VISIONS
VIA developed John Zorn’s The Holy Visions into a multi-media performance at the Abrons Arts Center in Fall, 2013, with a fully staged work scheduled for 2014-15 season.
October 24, 2017/by caleb@greyship.comERIKA HARRSCH’S INVERTED SKY
Renowned Mexican visual artist Erika Harrsch, acclaimed composer Julian Wachner and celebrated flutist Margaret Lancaster created a live kite/music installation for the River To River Festival, called Inverted Sky, in which banknotes shaped as butterflies and a dragon will circulate in patterns that represent a vital connective system.
October 24, 2017/by caleb@greyship.comCORNELIUS DUFALLO’S DREAM STREETS
Composed and performed by Cornelius Dufallo draws inspiration from the beauty and symbolism of the New York nightscape.
October 24, 2017/by caleb@greyship.comBODY MAPS
Body Maps is a 15′ multimedia work scored for soprano, cello, and electronics.
October 24, 2017/by caleb@greyship.comVIOLENS
VioLens is an interdisciplinary adaptation of four Heinrich Hoffman children’s stories.
October 24, 2017/by caleb@greyship.comTRAVELING SONGS
Traveling Songs is a transmedia work about migration and travel that reflects the minstrel nature of VIA’s diverse ensemble.
October 24, 2017/by caleb@greyship.comSOUNDS
Three composers, Nico Muhly, Paola Prestini, and Milica Paranosic, take Kandinsky’s book of woodcuts and prose from 1912 using four colors — black, white, blue and red — and specific woodcuts as an inspiration for a music/movement/film collaboration.
October 24, 2017/by caleb@greyship.comA TOUGH LINE
A Tough Line is a multimedia theater piece based on the dramatic seizure of the Nord-Ost theater in Moscow in 2002 by Chechen separatists, holding the theater audience captive.
October 24, 2017/by caleb@greyship.comTHE DEMOCRAZY PROJECT
The Democrazy project is a performance series that inquires into the role of the arts in a democratic society.
October 24, 2017/by caleb@greyship.com
