The Poetry of Sound: The New York Times Music Critic Anthony Tommasini with Bay Area Rainbow Symphony June 16, 2011

Composer Virgil Thomson (1896-1989) was Gertrude Stein’s closest music collaborator, composing two operas to librettos by her, Four Saints in Three Acts and The Mother of Us All. He also wrote “musical portraits.” While subjects sat silently before him, Thomson composed their musical portrait, usually in one session.

In conjunction with the Museum’s exhibition, Seeing Gertrude Stein: Five Stories, Anthony Tommasini, chief classical music critic for The New York Times and a Thomson scholar, performs a selection of these musical portraits including those of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. Tommasini also offers his commentary on how Thomson’s relatively simple music reflects and resonates with Stein's hermetic writing. He is joined by members of Bay Area Rainbow Symphony (BARS), who perform some of Thomson’s works that feature words by Stein and the music of Erik Satie, one of Thomson’s major influences.

INFORMATION/PURCHASE: www.thecjm.org, [email protected] or call 415.655.7800.

TICKETS: $20 general; discounts for Museum members