About me: John Moran has generally been considered the protege of composer Philip Glass, having been discovered by Mr. Glass at an young age. In 2003, Glass was quoted as saying, "I am convinced that there is no more important composer working today, than John Moran. His works have been so advanced as to be considered revolutionary."
These works of high-precision dance, music-theater have featured performers such as Uma Thurman, Iggy Pop, Julia Stiles and Allen Ginsberg in their leading roles. He has been twice commissioned for largescale works of music-theatre by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, as well as American Repertory Theater at Harvard, The Public Theater / New York Shakespeare Festival, as well as a host of venues across America and Europe. In 2005, he returned to New York City after serving 2 years as artist-in-residence for The City of Paris (Mairie de Paris). Several of Moran's works are in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Since 2005, his series of disarming, theatrical self-portraits of his regular collaborator, Saori Tsukada (under the name, 'John Moran...and his neighbor, Saori') have been presented at numerous venues internationally. In October 2007, they debuted their latest dance/operetta, 'Saori's Birthday!' to soldout houses in New York City, where it premiered at Performance Space 122. The work features Saori in it's leading role, as well as Katherine Brook and Joseph Keckler. Described by The New York Times as one of the most innovative works of 2007, the piece will make it's international debut in 2008, at Dublin Fringe.
An excerpt from 'Saori's Birthday!', recorded at Performance Space 122:
John Moran: 'Saori's Birthday!' (excerpt 1) ..
Moran's works are unusual, in that performers are generally considered to be mimes, performing (silently) against a detailed, pre-recorded soundtrack. Subtle gestures and timings are composed (in the soundtrack) as a work of music beforehand, and the performer's role is to study this complicated score of events, and provide it's visual component on stage, much like a ballet. Often, performers are responding to something around 300 sound-cues per minute. This technique creates a work that's difficult to classify; a unique blending of music, choreography and theater as a single gesture.
________
Current Projects:
Currently, Moran and Saori are in collaboration with Paris-based performing artists Jos Houben and Emily Wilson along with producer David Sefton on a new feature-length work, to premiere in fall '09, entitled 'Everyone'.
Moran is currently in Tel Aviv until August, with Clipa Theater. His presentation of musical and choreographic excerpts has been extended beyond the run of the Aduma festival in May, continuing peformances in Tel Aviv until July 18.
His 2nd Opera (1991), 'The Manson Family' will be remounted this year for the 2nd time in Finland, by the Helsinki Skalla Opera.
Film Work:
A new feature-film, 'The Goldberg Variations' is currently in production, and places performers inside computer-generated settings. The film features Moran, Saori Tsukada and composer Philip Glass, portraying themselves. The following excerpt is from the film's opening sequence, featuring Saori and dancer Akiko Danke:
In 2006, Moran presented his ballet, 'Zenith 5!' (again with Saori Tsukada, Joseph Keckler, Katherine Brook and an ensemble cast) at NYC's Speigeltent, after being workshopped at Galapagos ArtSpace, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Also that year, Moran and Saori presented a monthly performance series at Galapagos ArtSpace, where they featured artists such as Banana Bag & Bodice, Yoshiko Chuma w/ Elliott Sharp, Philip Glass, 31 Down Radio Theater, Non Horse, Katja Loher, Ray Sweeten, and many more.
________
In years past, productions of Moran's largescale works have included: 'Jack Benny!' at La Mama ETC, 'The Manson Family' at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, 'Everyday, New Burman (The Trilogy of Cyclic Existence)' at La Mama ETC (1993) and Staatstheater Darmstadt, Germany (2001), 'Book of the Dead' (2nd Avenue) at The Public Theater, 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' at ART in Cambridge, and many others. His former duet show, 'John Moran w/ Eva Müller' was seen at Williamsburg's Galapagos ArtSpace, Joe's Pub in New York City, On the Boards in Seattle WA., and The Portland Institute for Contemporary Arts in Portland, Oregon.
Saw you in London on the 5th April. Great perfomance, Saori was funny and bewitching, John scary (but in a good way). Bought 'Meet The Locusts' & 'Book Of The Dead' on CD to join my lonely but cherished copy of 'The Manson Family' - hope there'll be more CDs soon.
Hope to see one of your full-scale operas one day (in London or New York).
John Moran and his neighbor, Saori, make elegant and moving collaborations. John Moran and his neighbor, Saori, make elegant and moving collaborations. John Moran and his neighbor, Saori, make elegant and moving collaborations. John Moran and his neighbor, Saori, make elegant and moving collaborations.
Hello John Moran..I met you in Paris at Bertrand's place..I really loved your theatre performance and music..I was at AGITAKT just after you performing "Vies Revées" with music and video from my own..Happy to see that you still doing good things...
"The girl is on her bike. See how she is biorhythmically connected to The music of this setting and the events that she is passing are in lyric counterpoint and that she doesn't notice the rhythm of her breathing or the melody of thoughts that intertwine with drifting voices." Beautiful John!!!
Finally, a composer has made opera relevant again! The Manson Family is a must hear! We can't wait to hear your other works! Thank you, John. Blown away...
