{"id":411129,"date":"2021-05-05T10:57:08","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T10:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmusicusa.wpengine.com\/?p=408183"},"modified":"2021-06-02T16:31:20","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T16:31:20","slug":"ricky-ian-gordon-my-way-of-enveloping-a-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/nmbx\/ricky-ian-gordon-my-way-of-enveloping-a-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Ricky Ian Gordon: My Way of Enveloping a Story"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For the past 20 years, Ricky Ian Gordon has been creating works for the stage\u2014operas, musicals, or one-of a-kind music\/theater hybrids\u2014and getting them produced one after another, seemingly without a pause. But 14 months ago, fresh off from the PROTOTYPE production of <em>Ellen West<\/em> and with two new works about to open\u2014<em>Intimate Apparel<\/em> at Lincoln Center\u2019s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre and <em>The Garden of the Finzi-Continis<\/em> with New York City Opera\u2014plus a revival of <em>The Grapes of Wrath<\/em> at Aspen in the works, everything came to a screeching halt as the world went into lockdown due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey didn\u2019t even take down the set of <em>Intimate Apparel<\/em>,\u201d Ricky exclaimed when we spoke over Zoom. \u201cMichael Yeargan\u2019s set is there. Cathy Zuber\u2019s costumes, Jennifer Tipton\u2019s lights, everything\u2019s in place. We just have to get back in the theater. We\u2019ll open the theater again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But since everything has been on hold for over a year now, he has taken a break from madly finishing new scores. Instead, he has focused mostly on other things\u2014writing poetry, a candid essay about his teenage obsession with Joni Mitchell <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/featured\/joni-mitchell-and-me\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">which was published in <em>Spin<\/em><\/a>, and he\u2019s now furiously at work on a book-length memoir that will be published in 2022 by Farrar Straus &amp; Giroux.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI couldn\u2019t get behind writing music and anything that relies on performance during a period when there was not going to be any performance,\u201d Gordon explained. \u201cIt just felt like the wrong direction. And also the whole Zoom music thing, like operas on Zoom, just doesn\u2019t interest me that much. \u2026 But we\u2019re all fickle, and if suddenly it was a form that was about my work, then I\u2019m sure I\u2019d turn around on it, \u2018cause I\u2019m 12-years-old inside.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"owl-carousel owl-theme\">\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>I actually decided I\u2019m going to take a break from notes for a little while.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/rickyg-200x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Ricky Ian Gordon<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>I\u2019m the guy who writes hybrid.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/rickyg-200x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Ricky Ian Gordon<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>It\u2019s better to open a house on <em>Madame Butterfly<\/em> than on a brand new opera that is going to ask new things of this space.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/rickyg-200x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Ricky Ian Gordon<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>By the next time you see <em>Pacific Overtures<\/em>, it might be for like kazoo and French horn.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/rickyg-200x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Ricky Ian Gordon<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>If I could go back and have another life, I would be reading 24 hours a day.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/rickyg-200x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Ricky Ian Gordon<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>If you want to be a librettist, you have to be attached to the events and the stories.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/rickyg-200x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Ricky Ian Gordon<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>Because the AIDS crisis was in the center of my life, I was constantly writing for people who were dying.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/rickyg-200x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Ricky Ian Gordon<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>There is no such thing as history or then and now.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/rickyg-200x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Ricky Ian Gordon<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>The role of art in society and the role of the artist in society may in fact be more balanced when we return to normal, because death is way more clearly imminent.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/rickyg-200x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Ricky Ian Gordon<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><script>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tjQuery(document).ready(function(){\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tjQuery(\".owl-carousel\").owlCarousel({\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\titems:1,\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmargin:10,\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tautoHeight:true\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t});\n\t\t\t\t\t\t});\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/script>\n<p>It\u2019s somewhat surprising that Ricky Ian Gordon didn\u2019t jump on the virtual music bandwagon, since for years he\u2019s been involved in creating works for the stage that redefine possibilities and break boundaries. But he also excels at creating work that is emotionally direct and has an immediate impact with audiences, so it makes sense that he\u2019d be skeptical about creating something designed to be experienced by isolated individuals in front of computer terminals. And what inspires him more than anything else is the narrative arc of a great story, whether it\u2019s a John Steinbeck novel, passages from Marcel Proust, a poem by Frank Bidart about a patient of an early 20th century psychiatrist suffering from anorexia nervosa, or the lives of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. While most of his stage works are based on events from the distant past, these stories are very much in the present for him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs <em>Grapes of Wrath<\/em> any less resonant now than it was then?\u201d he asked at one point in our talk. \u201cThe entire world is one big refugee crisis. One big drought. One big food shortage. One big government saying: it\u2019s not my fault. <em>The Grapes of Wrath<\/em> could have been written yesterday! When we wrote <em>27<\/em> about Gertrude and Alice, what was the zeitgeist? Gay marriage. And this is like the original gay marriage. These two women were calling themselves husband and wife before World War I. It all feels like it\u2019s happening now. \u2026 I never feel like I\u2019m back in time. \u2026 I just feel like \u2026 I\u2019m making myself available for those stories. Then I feel like they sort of explode through me. There is no such thing as history or then and now. There\u2019s only the current moment and what seems to be my way of enveloping that story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, though he has had numerous productions put on hiatus, Ricky Ian Gordon has not suffered great hardship during the past year as have so many others who have lost loved ones or have gotten sick themselves. But he is also a war-scarred survivor of the AIDS crisis which claimed tons of people dear to him, most significantly his partner Jeffrey Michael Grossi, whose death inspired his deeply personal adaptation of <em>Orpheus and Eurydice<\/em> and his poignant monodrama <em>Green Sneakers<\/em>. The lessons Gordon learned from that horrific time inform his outlook on where we as a society are right now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a very intense time,\u201d he recalled. \u201cBecause the AIDS crisis was in the center of my life, I was constantly writing for people who were dying \u2026 We live in a very divided country right now, but I just can\u2019t imagine we\u2019re not all gonna be affected by this. \u2026 The role of art in society and the role of the artist in society may in fact be more balanced when we return to normal, because death is way more clearly imminent. \u2026 How do you incorporate that into a new world where at any moment you could get a pandemic and everyone could be killed? What does art mean then?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/1043151085&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-caption\"><a title=\"New Music USA\" href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/new-music-usa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New Music USA<\/a> \u00b7 <a title=\"SoundLives -- Ricky Ian Gordon: My Way Of Enveloping A Story\" href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/new-music-usa\/soundlives-ricky-ian-gordon-my-way-of-enveloping-a-story\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SoundLives &#8212; Ricky Ian Gordon: My Way Of Enveloping A Story<\/a><br \/>\nFrank J. Oteri in conversation with Ricky Ian Gordon<br \/>\nApril 19, 2021\u20141:30pm EDT via Zoom<br \/>\nAdditional voiceovers by Brigid Pierce; audio editing by Anthony Nieves<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the past 20 years, Ricky Ian Gordon has been creating works for the stage\u2014operas, musicals, or one-of a-kind music\/theater hybrids\u2014and getting them produced one after another, seemingly without a pause. But 14 months ago, everything came to a screeching halt as the world went into lockdown due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":522,"featured_media":411151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,38,5,952],"tags":[45,663,942,436,745,943],"nmb_categories":[7,8,955],"how_to_category":[],"nmb_tags":[],"internal_taxonomy":[922,923],"class_list":["post-411129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conversations","category-nmbx","category-podcasts-and-discussions","category-soundlives","tag-collaboration","tag-musical-theater","tag-musical-theatre","tag-opera","tag-pandemic","tag-words-and-music","nmb_categories-interviews","nmb_categories-podcasts-and-discussions","nmb_categories-soundlives","internal_taxonomy-musical-theater","internal_taxonomy-opera"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ricky Ian Gordon: My Way of Enveloping a Story - New Music USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/nmbx\/ricky-ian-gordon-my-way-of-enveloping-a-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ricky Ian Gordon: My Way of Enveloping a Story - New Music USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For the past 20 years, Ricky Ian Gordon has been creating works for the stage\u2014operas, musicals, or one-of a-kind music\/theater hybrids\u2014and getting them produced one after another, seemingly without a pause. 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