The Curiosity Cabinet to Present CHASING LIGHT This December

CHASING LIGHT is a performance art installation and exhibition of movement, light, and live music. The work traverses 16 unique environments in a non-linear, non-narrative, immersive space. Written for a chamber ensemble of six players, and inspired by photography, the collection contemplates the human experience of light phenomena through sound and experiential space.

Concepts ranging from organic and otherworldly bioluminescence, to the simple yet romantic silhouette are individually examined in vivid detail using both atmospherics and the human body as a canvas. This 95-minute experience is staged to fully immerse audience members in each illuminated environment, drawing the viewer into a liminal space of non-traditional light sources and dancing vibrancy.

Whitney George began composing CHASING LIGHT for members of The Curiosity Cabinet in 2015. Eight years later in 2022, she completed the score and has since workshopped it at Pinch Recording Studios, where she is an artist in residence. The ensemble will feature Alice Jones (Flute), Mara Mayer (Clarinet), Adam von Housen (Violin), Mark Serkin (‘Cello), Markus Kaitila (Piano), Tamika Gorski (Percussion), and Whitney George (Conductor) with Luther Frank (Lighting Design), Dara Swisher (Choreography). 

The performance coincides with the digital release of the album in full by Pinch Records, and selections of the album pressed to vinyl, which will be available for purchase at the event. 

CHASING LIGHT plays at 150 First Avenue | 4th floor on December 15th at 8:00 PM. December 16th at 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM. December 17th at 3:00 PM. Doors will open 30 minutes prior to the performance. Tickets start at $35 for general admission, $25 for students and academics. RSVP and find more information at https://www.the-curiosity-cabinet.com/current-calendar 

The Curiosity Cabinet, a female-led interdisciplinary chamber ensemble founded by composer/conductor Whitney George, focuses on the intersections of music with the theatrical and visual arts, has been committed to performing newly composed works by living American composers as well as outliers from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries since its founding in 2009. 

Among the Cabinet's accolades are the Elebash Award for the premiere of Miriam Gideon's opera Fortunato (2019), the CUNY Graduate Center's prestigious Robert Starer Award for George's thirteen-movement orchestral work The Anatomy of the Curiosity Cabinet (2011), and the Robert Engelman Award for the premiere performance of George's monodrama The Yellow Wallpaper (2010). The Curiosity Cabinet has been the ensemble in residence for the City Lyric Opera, dell'Arte Opera Ensemble, Fresh Squeezed Opera, and New Camerata Opera. 

A brief overview of recent season highlights incorporating our core mission of interdisciplinary collaboration includes: the premiere of the jazz opera Fizz & Ginger (George/Goodwin ) (‘23) co-produced with FSO and supported by commissioning funds through NYSCA; presentation of Tania Leon's chamber work Indigena with live art by gender non-conforming interdisciplinary artist Rossá Crean (‘22); the free online release of three pandemic themed radio-dramas (HOME, AXEMAN, PAPER DAUGHTER 21/22/23); City Lyric Opera's innovative digital performance of Threepenny Opera (‘20); the performance of Laura Kaminsky's As One with transgender artist Lucas Bouk (‘19); and the premiere of the opera Princess Maleine (George/Goodwin) at LaMaMa Experimental Theater (‘19). In 2021, the Cabinet became Pinch Recording Artists, and have released For You (2021), Solitude & Secrecy, and eagerly await the release of Chasing Light (2023). 

WHITNEY GEORGE
composer & conductor

Whitney George's music traverses the affective terrain between tragedy and ecstasy, fragility and strength, bringing together romantically delicate intimacy and the spectacular darkness of the macabre. Haunted by ghosts and/of love, George's operas, staged multimedia works, and chamber music coloristically explore the mysteries of irrationality, nightmare, and memory, sonically seeking lost objects and hidden subjects. 

Given George's theatrical inclinations and preoccupation with the tragic, she has turned again and again to opera as both a composer and conductor. Most recently, George was commissioned by NYSCA to write the jazz opera Fizz & Ginger which premiered at the New York Comedy Club in June 2023 with her ensemble, The Curiosity Cabinet. Additional George was commissioned by the dell'Arte Opera to write Princess Maleine, an adaptation of a Grim fairytale, which premiered in August 2019 at La MaMa Experimental Theater. George received the 2017 Elebash Award for her orchestration of Miriam Gideon's opera Fortunato, which was performed under George's baton in May 2019. In 2017, George's One Night of Excess, a surrealist retelling of the shockingly erotic and blisteringly sacrilegious 1833 short story Gamiani, saw its premiere at National Sawdust. The Yellow Wallpaper (2010), George's two-act opera based on Charlotte Perkins Gillman's feminist novella of the same name, was most recently performed at the DiMenna center in 2015, and led to George being named a John Duffy Institute Fellow in 2010. 

Whitney George is the founder, artistic director, and conductor of the interdisciplinary new music ensemble The Curiosity Cabinet, formed in 2009. She has also conducted for New Camerata Opera, String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Blackhouse Ensemble, The Green Monster Big Band, the Noveau Classical Project (NCP), Fresh Squeezed Opera, and the Face the Music Youth Orchestra at the Kaufman Center. George holds an undergraduate degree from the California Institute of the Arts, a master's degree from Brooklyn College, and is currently a PhD candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center, where she has studied with David Del Tredici, David Olan, Bruce Saylor, and Tania Leon. In addition to her composing and conducting, George teaches composition privately and with Luna Lab, a mentorship, education, and resource program for female and non-binary composers ages 13-18.

Dara Swisher is a dynamic creative force based in New York, known for diverse talents as a creator, producer, and arts manager. With over three decades of experience in the arts and live events industry, Swisher brings a unique and multifaceted perspective to every project. At the core of Swisher's artistic journey is dance, serving as the cornerstone of a career in physical art, stage management, and interdisciplinary theatre creation. Holding a BA in Dance from Mercyhurst College and an MFA in Choreography from Jacksonville University, Swisher has seamlessly woven passion for movement into various artistic endeavors. Notable recent credits include Production Stage Manager and Line Producer for WritopiaLab Worldwide Plays Festivals from 2018 to 2023, Principal Performer with Kinetic Architecture Dance Theatre, and earning recognition as the Production Stage Manager for the NY Times Critic's Pick, "Red Emma and The Mad Monk," at The Tank NYC. 

Swisher's work as an art model and performer can be seen in countless studios, galleries, exhibits, and art spaces around the world. In June 2023, Swisher was selected as the sole US performer for the 36Q+H40 workshop program of the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space. As Creative Producer, Swisher is set to premiere "Here I Am," a groundbreaking new musical for Off-Broadway at AMT Theater in March 2024. Swisher believes in art as activism and is dedicated to fostering, supporting, and creating radically inclusive and accessible art and entertainment. With a commitment to pushing boundaries and breaking barriers, Dara Swisher continues to leave an indelible mark on the world of performing arts.

Luther Frank is a NYC based lighting artist, scenographer, and production designer working primarily in live performance and immersive art. Their background education in theatre, music, and dance along side a deep curiosity in technology has contributed to a diverse and eclectic portfolio of projects across multiple genres. 

Luther's most recent notable immersive art projects include Studio Drift's Drift: Fragile Future at The Shed, Moses Sumney's Technoechophenomena at Pioneer Works, as well as a supporting lighting technologist for James Turrell exhibits, PACE Gallery, Superblue, and other art institutions and gallery spaces. 

They have extensive experience in both traditional and experimental Theare, Opera, and Dance working with companies such as Danse Theatre Surreality, Opera Naples, Ars Nova, New York Deaf Theatre, New Camerata Opera, and more. Their designs have often included interdisciplinary concepts and mixed mediums such as the high contrast body art film projected as scenery in NYDT's non-verbal Titus, as well as Bea Goodwin's fully immersive moving audience jazz Opera Tabula Rasa. He has also worked at the Broadway level as the lighting programmer for multiple national tours (Motown 3rd National 2017, Something Rotten! 2nd National 2018). 

As a Lighting Director, Luther is frequently engaged to design concerts and music festivals. Notable examples include GlobalFEST 2023 at David Geffen Hall, Kitt Wakeley and The Symphony of Sinners and Saints at Carnegie Hall, and Electric Guest at Rough Trade. He also regularly provides lighting direction for special concerts, private venues, and solo performances for artists such as Alicia Keys, Lizzo, Ludacris, Jade Bird, Elle King, and many others. 

Luther is also a founding member of Sovereign Candle Collective. The work of this collective can be seen in installations and experiences across the country such as Immersive Van Gogh Pheonix, MeowWolf Denver, Superblue Miami, The World Trade Center Oculus NYC, Casa Bonita, and in hundreds of live performances in the last few years

Sierra Miliziano is an NYC-based Creative Producer dedicated to championing narratives that redefine the human experience and empower women. She is the Administrative arm of CreateHer, SheNYC's education program dedicated to nurturing high school women with interests in Playwriting and Producing.

In addition to working as a freelance producer, Sierra is a Producing Associate at Barry and Fran Weissler's multi-Tony award-winning producing office, leaving her mark on productions including "CHICAGO," "TAKE ME OUT," "BEDWETTER," and "REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES.". A current Broadway League Rising Star Fellowship participant. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree in Performing Arts Management.