John Moran (composer) - Overview

Overview

John Moran is often considered a protégé of composer Philip Glass. He was born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1965, and began his career with the debut of his first opera in 1989. His works as a composer and theater artist are unusual, in that actors or dancers are generally expected to work silently (as mimes) to a score of highly edited voices and sound-effects. These works are known for such specific interaction between sound and movement that they have sometimes been categorized as dance. Whatever the description of Moran's works, what most have agreed is that they defy any conventional classification. Over the last 2 decades, his work has featured performers such as Uma Thurman, Allen Ginsberg, Julia Stiles and Iggy Pop, at venues like Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, American Repertory Theater, New York Shakespeare Festival / Public Theater and many more internationally. Publications like The New York Times have frequently referred to Moran as "one of the leading vanguards of American music-theater.", and The Boston Globe has written, "Moran is a modern-day Mozart." In 2003, Philip 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."

Major works by Moran include: Jack Benny! (1988), The Manson Family: An Opera (1990), Everyday, Newt Burman (The Trilogy of Cyclic-Existence) (1993), Mathew in the School of Life (1997), Book of the Dead (2nd Avenue) (2000), John Moran...and his neighbor, Saori (2005), Saori's Birthday! (2007) and John Moran and Saori (in Thailand) (2010).

In 2007, Moran relocated his career to play almost exclusively to European audiences, along with a radical change in format. In numerous interviews Moran describes having turned away from the type of large scale, multimedia productions he was known for throughout the 1990s and instead began to create intimate works, often for one or two performers, sans any type of theatrical setting. His series of duets under the title John Moran...and his neighbor, Saori - with dancer and performer Saori Tsukada - saw high praise and consistent European touring throughout the years of 2005-2011. Recently (2012), Moran unveiled a new solo-work titled, John Moran: The Con Artist; a joint production of Mayfest Bristol (England), Spoleto Open (Italy) and Fringe Amsterdam (Netherlands).