Image courtesy of the International Contemporary Ensemble
Shadow Museum is a song cycle, each song based on one of the many artworks stolen from Iraq's National Museum during the US invasion of 2003. The piece takes the form of a surreal, mysterious “audio tour” through the shadows of the fractured museum, at once a meditation on cultural imperialism, a critique of US policy in the region, and a historical fever-dreamlike re-engagement with human civilization's oldest artworks and earliest written words.
About the Artists
Rick Burkhardt is an Obie-award-winning playwright, composer, director, and performer whose original music and text pieces have been performed internationally and in over 40 US cities. His plays have been produced by New York Theater Workshop, La Mama, PS122, and the American Repertory Theater. His chamber music pieces have been commissioned by Wet Ink, Yarn/Wire, thingNY, Dal Niente, and many others, and featured on Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now and NPR’s Morning Edition.
The International Contemporary Ensemble is an artist collective that is transforming the way music is created and experienced. As performer, curator, and educator, the Ensemble explores how new music intersects with communities across the world. The Ensemble’s 36 members are featured as soloists, chamber musicians, commissioners, and collaborators with the foremost musical artists of our time. Works by emerging composers have anchored the Ensemble’s programming since its founding in 2001, and the group’s recordings and digital platforms highlight the many voices that weave music’s present.