"[The] public history performance model by The Red Skies Music Ensemble brings the things that we can normally
only stare in wonder at in silence in our collections areas or gallery walls, to fully-fleshed out, breathing, dancing-in-the-aisles reality."
Joshua Ruff, Deputy Director, 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/Curator
Colin Harte, PhD. Music Director
Trudy Williams, Author/Curator
Colin Harte, PhD. Music Director
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Music and the Artistry of Williams Sidney Mount takes general audiences on a researched-based musical and theatrical 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 with painting examples 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. |
Recorded live in performance, 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.
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Ensemble 2108/2019 Author: Trudy Williams Music Director: Colin Harte Actors Narrator: Joshua Ruff Ruth Mount: Suzanne Lenz/Sara Banleigh 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: Sara Banleigh/Suzanne Lenz Banjo: Sebastian MacLaughlin Guitar: Johnny Cuomo Mandolin: Rob Meador Piano, percussion: Colin Harte/Sara Banleigh |
2018 Music and the Artistry of William Sidney Mount: a companion program to the 2018 exhibit Perfect Harmony: The Musical Life of William Sidney Mount at the Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages, a Smithsonian Affiliate. Trudy Williams, author and co-producer; Joshua Ruff, Deputy Director and Director of Collections and Interpretation, co-producer.
2019 Walt Whitman, William Sidney Mount and the Sounds of the 19th Century: a companion program to the 2019 exhibit Walt Whitman's Arcadia: Long Island Through the Eyes of a Poet & Painter at the Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages, a Smithsonian Affiliate. Trudy Williams, author and co-producer; Joshua Ruff, Deputy Director, Director of Collections and Interpretation, co-producer.
2019 Walt Whitman, William Sidney Mount and the Sounds of the 19th Century: a companion program to the 2019 exhibit Walt Whitman's Arcadia: Long Island Through the Eyes of a Poet & Painter at the Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages, a Smithsonian Affiliate. Trudy Williams, author and co-producer; Joshua Ruff, Deputy Director, Director of Collections and Interpretation, co-producer.
"Both of The Red Skies Music Ensemble programs at LIM were successful on every single level and kept our audience rapt from the first moment of production to the last. Ultimately, the programs 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 was funded in part by the Suffolk County Office of Cultural Affairs. Walt Whitman, William Sidney Mount and the Sounds of the 19th Century was funded in part by the Ward Melville Heritage Trust.
Images courtesy of the Long Island Museum.
Copyright 2022 George Boziwick and Trudy Williams The Red Skies Music Ensemble: Co-founded in 2010 by George Boziwick and Trudy Williams