A work-in-progress scene from the opera "American Terror: The 1969 Television Debate Between William F. Buckley and Noam Chomsky,” along with excerpts from the original debate, a reading of part of the libretto, a showing of selected commercials from 1969, and a discussion between composer/librettist Jeffrey Lependorf and writer Dave King about the work.
Premiere of Dropinn Holar Augasteinninn (Water Drops Hollow the Eyestone), with music and images by Jeffrey Lependorf, to poetry by Ingemar Erlendur Sigurdsson, performed by soprano Anna Jonsdottir and pianist Brynhildur Asgeirsdottir, at the Norraena Husid (Nordic House) in Reykjavik, Iceland, on April 23, 2017.
Excerpt from performance by baritone John Schenkel, with direction by Linda Lehr and the composer at the piano, from a performance at the 2008 New York International Fringe Festival at The Jazz Gallery. A singing "Tim Gunn" reveals the behind-the-scenes, nail-biting story of how Kayne, Jeffrey, Vincent and Angela battle it out designing a gown for Miss USA.
Excerpt of semi-staged reading of "AMERICAN LIT: THE HAWTHORNE/MELVILLE CORRESPONDENCE (Part One)," opera by Jeffrey Lependorf (composer) and Jeffrey Jullich (libretto). Performed by Hell's Kitchen Opera at American Opera Projects. Countertenor Jeffrey Mandelbaum as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Tenor David Zimmerman as Herman Melville, with William Maxfield Conducting, direction by Linda Lehr, and the composer at the piano.
Excerpt of music concert in the Red Hall, Pristina, Kosovo, part of the Fryma e Re Fesitval ("New Spirit") recorded on June 19, 2009 of The NewBorn Trio: Katie Down (left), Jeffrey Lependorf (middle), Miguel Frasconi (right), in celebration of the one year anniversary of Kosov's Independence ("NewBorn Day").
Final duet and chorus from workshop performance of "Say It With Flowers (an opera in waiting)," based on the play by Gertrude Stein. Performed by the Hell's Kitchen Opera, Mimi Stern-Wolfe conducting, for the Center for Contemporary Opera, at Teachers College, Millbank Hall, NYC. The opera was subsequently fully produced with full orchestra at The Little Theater of the West Side YMCA (but sadly, no video).
Excerpt of free improvisation performance for tanso (Korean bamboo flute) and shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute), percussion, and dance, performed by Jeffrey Lependorf (tanso and shakuhachi), Matt Hannafin (percussion), Tere Mathern (dance), and Kristine Anderson (dance) as the second improvisation in the program "Limb, Wind, and Drum," presented at Conduit Dance (Portland, Oregon, USA) on February 23, 2014. Raw video footage by Bobak Salehi / Hashibo Media.
The following are video excerpts from archival footage of Cabaret of Cruelty, “the post-Artaud, Pseudo-Butoh Performing Duo,” of which I was one half. Cabaret of Cruelty performed in NYC venues as varied as the back room of Crow Bar on Tompkins Square Park and The Kitchen. Some of the performances use puppets. All of them incorporate found texts, live shakuhachi performance and butoh movement, and occasionally, prerecorded sound scores. In all, the “speech” is presented via recordings and lip-synching, as if by puppets. Cabaret of Cruelty are not currently performing.
