The Florida Orchestra collaboration and commission consists of a live musical performance accompanied by a 28 minute dramatic short film as the backdrop. Geff collaborated alongside Ella Fredrickson, principal librarian and Michael Francis, conductor to execute the concept using his artwork to interpret the Schoenberg’s musical piece, “Verklärte Nacht”, which was inspired by Richard Dehmel’s poem of the same name. The poem details a dark romantic story set in the 19th century. This multimedia performance is the first of its kind and in its world premiere in 2018, audiences were stunned with rich imagery and a memorable experience involving simply canvas and music.  For three nights and sold-out audiences, this performance took place at the Mahaffey Theatre, Straz Center, and Ruth Eckerd Hall. The production was made possible by project sponsor, Phil Yost, Compass Land and Title.

The short film can be seen where it shows the artist as well as the storyline that perfectly matches the lines of the classic poem. Geff was responsible for all aspects of the artistic material, from concept, production, and execution. The story between the poem’s couple lives in the canvas, where Geff depicted 18 key scenes which its own imagery. With one canvas, he layered each scene in oil with a final layer of lacquer to seal in each scene. This is purposely done since the collective scenes are to be seen as layers of memories. While the final scene concludes the storyline, each layer can technically be removed revealing the history and scene that passed. With the success of the performance, Siècles des Lumières Entertainment, LLC was formed to continue producing more innovative new works.

For all inquiries and screening information of “Verklärte Nacht” contact Black Tea Music: Trudy Chan at tc@blackteamusic.com