The Archetype of Modern Man

Houston-based musicians, artists, and philosophers question how loneliness contributes to modernity in the first of a four-part, multi-disciplinary series commissioned by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany Houston in partnership with Steinway & Sons of Houston. The Archetype of Modern Man, produced by pianist and writer Elizabeth Newkirk, features a philosophical narrative alongside a classical music concert and visual art program. Each presentation explores a condition of modern man loneliness, self-reliance, Americanism, and nihilism.The first program takes place on November 15th at 7:00 pm at the Steinway Selection Center at 401 Louisiana Street and uses a variety of disciplines to collaboratively explore the mood of loneliness pervasive in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century and Interwar period. Tenor Zachary Averyt will be accompanied by Newkirk in a selection of music by Samuel Barber, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Richard Strauss, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Kurt Weill. In conversation with the musical program, philosopher and artistic researcher Jeanette “Joy” Harris uses Depression-era dance marathons to explore dance and somatic loneliness. Her essay intersects with the visual art of Heather L. Johnson, whose drawings of modern machines and nature create a visual landscape for the entire program.