William Sidney Mount

"Trudy William's Red Skies Music Ensemble program at LIM kept our audience rapt from the first moment to the last. Ultimately, it left an indelible, unique memory and gave visitors the fullest explorations of Mount’s merging of music and art we could have ever hoped for." Joshua Ruff, Deputy Director and Director of Collections and Interpretation, The Long Island Museum of American Art and History.

Music and the Artistry of William Sidney Mount
Trudy Williams, Author

Sponsored by Long Island Museum of American Art and History as a companion
to their exhibit: Perfect Harmony: The Musical Life of William Sidney Mount

Music and the Artistry of Williams Sidney Mount takes general audiences on a researched-based musical, theatrical and visual exploration of Mount’s artistic inventive genius and vibrant participation in, and contribution to, American art, music, and dance culture.

Using music from the extensive manuscript collection at the Long Island Museum as the portal, the program lets audiences hear what is seen in Mount’s genre art to illuminate how he used music as his artistic muse to bridge the divide between the formal and the vernacular, bringing soundscape to his art and visual scaffolding to his music. Included are selections from his hundreds of hand-written music manuscripts that document the aural music tradition in which he participated, as well as his informal town and country sketches that provide first hand evidence of the inter-racial and cross-cultural musical engagements and exchanges that were continuous and foundational to the development of American music.

Through the roles of the Narrator, Mount's sister Ruth, and Mount's country dance band members, the audience sees and hears: Mount’s formative influences (biographical, socio-historical and cultural); his contribution to American art forms; his studio and environmental designs and musical instrument inventions; the impact and contribution of African Americans in the emerging multi-racial and multi-cultural American musical synthesis in which he participated; and the cultural shifts and power struggles of his times that imposed a divided identity of American music into 'highbrow' and 'lowbrow'; and his legacy and relevance to us today.

The lively musical performance and theatrical roles, accompanied by large screen imagery of art, music notation and other artifacts, are interwoven with fascinating facts and insights in the research-based narrative that spans the program. This hour-long show includes an audience sing-along component, and ends with a Q/A.

Matthew Christian plays the 1857 "Cradle of Harmony" fiddle that Mount designed, patented, and named. The fiddle and the tune Possum Up A Gum Stump are from the Long Island Museum of American Art and History's holdings of Mount's extensive music manuscript collection and instruments he owned or created.

Ensemble

Author/Curator: Trudy Williams
Director: Trudy Williams
Music Director/Curator: Colin Harte

Actors
Narrator: Joshua Ruff
Ruth Mount: Suzanne Lenz
W.S.Mount's Banjo player: Sebastian MacLaughlin
W.S.Mount's Mandolin player: Rob Meador
W.S.Mount's GuItar player: Johnny Cuomo

Musicians
Fiddle: Matthew Christian
Vocals: Suzanne Lenz
Banjo: Sebastian MacLaughlin
Guitar: Johnny Cuomo
Mandolin: Rob Meador
Piano, percussion: Colin Harte

Music and the Artistry of William Sidney Mount was generously funded in part by the
Suffolk County Office of Cultural Affairs.

Images: Long Island Museum.