Cynthia Hopkins
Cynthia Hopkins is a writer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and theater artist of exceptional clarity, passion and depth who is celebrated as much for her acting and writing as she is for her unique brand of songwriting and music making. She formed the band Gloria Deluxe in 1999 and has been described as "Part country, part Lou Reed, part Patti Smith, part performance artist," by The Washington Post. Gloria Deluxe has performed at numerous venues throughout the US and produced five full-length albums, the most recent of which is an album of songs from Accidental Nostalgia, an operetta about the pros and cons of amnesia written, composed and performed by Ms. Hopkins. Accidental Nostalgia has been presented by St. Ann's Warehouse (March 2004 and January 2005), On the Boards in Seattle, WA (June 2004), the Walker Center's Out There series in Minneapolis (January 2005) and the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival (September 2005). In addition, Accidental Nostalgia was presented on the New Now series by the Society for the Performing Arts in Houston, TX (January 2006), and at the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio (May 2006); and will be presented throughout the US in 2006-2007. Through her company ACCINOSCO, she is developing her next full-length music/theater piece, which is a prequel to Accidental Nostalgia called Must Don't Whip 'Um, which premiered at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN in January 2007, and is scheduled to be performed at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY (January-February 2007); the Wexner in Columbus, OH (April 2007); On the Boards in Seattle, WA (May 2007); and the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival (September 2007)
Accinosco is a collective of performing artists, designers and musicians dedicated to creating groundbreaking original works that meld music, text, technical and theatrical design, and video with unbelievable fact and outrageous fiction. Accinosco is Jim Findlay, Cynthia Hopkins, Susan Oetgen, Jeff Sugg, and the members of Gloria Deluxe: Kristin Mueller, Josh Stark, Philippa Thompson, and Karen Waltuch; as well as a roster of collaborating artists which includes Jason Boyd, Jim Dawson, Curtis Hasselbring, Ben Holmes, Margot Kingon, Diane Madden, DJ Mendel, Brooke O'Harra, Annie B Parson, Reut Regev, Jordana Che Toback, and Tara Webb. Accinosco emerged through the creation of their seminal and acclaimed work, Accidental Nostalgia, which premiered in March 2004. The recently released album of the music from Accidental Nostalgia is currently available online through CD Baby and Amazon. Go to http://www.gloriadeluxe.com for more info..
In addition to her work with Accinosco, Ms. Hopkins composes and performs for and with many theater and film projects and artists. Recent projects include 'Tsimtsum', an original performance commissioned by Annie B Parson (Big Dance Theater) for the 'Sourcing Stravinsky' Festival at Dance Theater Workshop (April 2006); and 'Song Before Love Songs (a post-apocalyptic requiem for the human race)', a composition commissioned by Bang on a Can's People's Commissioning Fund, which premiered at a concert in February 2005. Past projects include Big Dance Theater's Antigone, Shunkin, and Another Telepathic Thing (for which she won a 2000 Obie Award for performance and a 2001 Bessie Award for composition); and Ridge Theater's production of Mac Wellman's at jennie richee (for which she won a 2001 Obie Award as part of the collaborative team.
Ms. Hopkins also performs as guest artist with groups including Bonnie Prince Billy and Dan Zanes and Friends.
For more information, please contact [email protected]. #A07