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Erik T. Johnson: Proser - Poet - Performer

Hear The Man Who Loved Locks live on Nov. 10th in NYC

11/7/2019

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On Sunday, November 10th at 7:30pm at Symphony Space - Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre in NYC, I'll have the pleasure of joining Composers Concordance for 'Estonian Connections.' The event will feature works by contemporary Estonian and American composers inspired by the theme. 

Tickets are only $15 in advance and available here. 

Premieres include 'The Man Who Loved Locks,' based on Estonian legend, with music by Gene Pritsker and poetry by me as well as the premiere of 'Ménage à trois' by Mari Vihmand.  

For The Man Who Loved Locks, I took an old Estonian legend based on the Polyphemus episode of the Odyssey, where Odysseus defeats the cyclops through his cunning. Only my poem takes a very different direction.
​The first two (of seven) stanzas set the stage . . .


Now this tale tells of the man who loved locks,
A man with no wife who doted on locks.
With glance golden on gears he cured sick bronze,
Undid verdigris with his kiss that cleaned keys.
And he hated theft and the trespassing kind.

On the coldest night the locksmith worked alone,
The night was black ice as he tinkered alone.
Into his closed shop stepped a red-faced man,
Even in each eye glowed a sunset blood-lit.

The man who loved locks trembled at this guest . . . 
 

Praise for Composers Concordance:

"Enterprising new music organization" 
-The New York Times. 

"An unwavering force in giving composers exposure through concert bookings and its own record label, the intrepid new-music organization Composers Concordance" 
-The Brooklyn Rail. 

"For the past 30 years, Composers Concordance has been a booster for local composers, through both its concerts across the city and a record label." 

-The Wall Street Journal. 

"The Composers Concordance folks are unpredictable and at times refreshingly irreverent in a reverent sort of way....ingenious fun" 
-Classical-Modern Music Review.
 

"Edgy... boisterous... demanding our attention"

-San Diego Story. 

This event is made possible thanks to the generous support of The Estonian Ministry of Culture. 
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Lara St. John event in Philadelphia Inquirer!

9/9/2019

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I am proud to have participated in “We Believe You: Solidarity Concert for Lara" on September 6th (The picture to the right shows the great Gene Pritsker and I performing a piece he wrote and including my poem, WE HAVE). 

It just caught my eye that the concert was written up in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and they were kind enough to quote some of my poem, which is printed in full below.

Click here to read the article, and learn more about this important show, Lara St. John, and the history of endemic abuse at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music.

WE HAVE
By Erik T. Johnson

You bare your words like empty masks. 
Your touch takes every heart to task.
Yet we need nothing of you ask.
We will command. This is our day.
The power source that you dare claim
turns our world and floods your veins
is nothing more than the great shame
we will dispatch. This is our day.
You see dumb flesh where we scream soul.
Into our sights you boldly stroll.
You call for truce-- but don't you know?
We have won. You have no say.




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"They all think I'm mad! My ideas crazy! Well . . . it would do well for them to remember they laughed at Groucho Marx, too!" 
            --Louis-Ferdinand Céline
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