PHILLY FRINGE 2024:

SEPT 26, 27, 28: 8pm

@ PHILLY PACK
233 Federal St.
GET TICKETS HERE PHILLY FRINGE 2024:

SEPT 26, 27, 28: 8pm

@ PHILLY PACK
233 Federal St.

“Incredibly modern and inventive.”
–Edinburgh Guide


“An engrossing interplay between Moroni’s spoken poetry and Glasgow’s trippy score, and we loved it.”
–Accessible Arts Philadelphia


“The skillful dialogue among different codes of expression (words, sound, and image) created very suggestive effects, and a great mental and emotional impact on the audience. Moroni and Glasgow’s artistic performance was able to get the young audience of students involved with participation and passion.”
-Andrea Santurbano, Professor of Italian, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (Brazil)
Haunting, beautiful piano and electric cello by James Glasgow. Immersive poetry by Mario Moroni (Lorenzo Montano Poetry Prize). A dramatic, award-winning conversation between music and spoken word, critically acclaimed at performances in NYC, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New Orleans, the Edinburgh Fringe, Italy, London, Reykjavík, and Brazil.

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In the tradition of contemporary avant-garde composers collaborating with poets, such as Hydrogen Jukebox by Philip Glass and Allen Ginsburg, Composer James Glasgow (whose clients include Secondhand Dance Company, Edinburgh Fringe Critic’s Choice winner for Dance) performs the new music he has composed for the new poems of Mario Moroni (winner of Lorenzo Montano Poetry Prize) as Moroni recites his works.

The poetry is atmospheric and immersive, and the music is haunting and beautiful, creating a dramatic, almost operatic experience for the listener as the poems and music have a conversation of sorts. The music is performed on piano and electric cello and ranges from a modern take on impressionism to experimental usage of the cello and a looping pedal. The performance also features projected video images to accompany the poetry and music.

While James Glasgow of Strange Fangs Song Factory and Mario Moroni have been creating works and performing independently for years, Glasgow first partnered with Moroni to create new music for Moroni’s poetry in New York in February 2017. Moroni stressed that he did not just want music that played in the background, like many other examples of poetry with music; he requested music that interacted with the reciting voice to paint a greater picture. Glasgow composed approximately 30 minutes of music for piano, cello, and a small orchestra over the first half of 2017, music that emulated a conversation of sorts with the poems Ballads of Maine and Youth.

Moroni and Glasgow now perform these works along with a multimedia projection featuring experimental sound engineering and video effects entitled Reflections. A portion of this work, entitled Recitativi and recorded in its  original Italian, has been released on CD and all major streaming services as of February 2018.

In Do You See What I Hear? Moroni and Glasgow created a piece featuring experimental use of electric cello and a new method of musical notation based on the symbol language Blissym, playing with the relationship between the rational and irrational, a major theme in Moroni’s works.

For their upcoming tour dates, Moroni and Glasgow have added a new piece to the program, utilizing complex looped rhythms generated by the electric cello, creating a dynamic back and forth with Moroni’s words.

Youth (Original Italian)

MUSIC “…he is the genius behind Strange Fangs Song Factory…he moves easily from the dark and haunting to the soaring and serene. Perhaps the most multifaceted musician I have ever encountered.”

-Carousel Magazine (The Creative Genius of Jim Glasgow, Feb 2017)
BY JAMES GLASGOW James Glasgow is an internationally acclaimed composer and owner of Strange Fangs Song Factory, a music composition and production company in New York. Glasgow specializes in cello, piano, bass, and guitar performance. Originally from Binghamton, NY, his work has been performed in major cities across the United States, Italy, England, Scotland, and Brazil. Glasgow’s compositions have been performed at several major world festivals such as Burning Man and the Edinburgh Fringe. Glasgow’s independent songwriting work can be found on all streaming services under his stage name, Strange Fangs. Since 2019, Glasgow has been focusing on graphical notation as an interesting way to design unique musical environments (as seen in “Do You See What I Hear?” and “Windchest”). Glasgow also partners with nonprofit agencies to offer Song Factory, a highly successful therapeutic music program for young people recovering from traumatic life events, developed after Glasgow used similar methods to assist in his own trauma recovery. Song Factory has branches in four counties and has resulted in over 100 therapeutic pieces of original music co-created by the youths and Glasgow. POETRY BY MARIO MORONI “I have the deepest respect for his vision, his poetics, and the way he works with composers…Moroni is a passionate and engaging reader, always on the cutting edge of multi-media performance.”

-Prof. Joseph Weil (Binghamton University)
Mario Moroni has taught at Yale University, the Colby College, and Binghamton University, in the state of New York. He has published eight volumes of poetry and one of poetic prose. In 1989 he was awarded the Lorenzo Montano prize for poetry. His poems have been published in numerous journals and anthologies. As a critic, Mario Moroni has published Essere e fare (1991), La presenza complessa (1998), and Al limite (2007). He has co-edited three collections of essays: Italian Modernism with L. Somigli, From Eugenio Montale to Amelia Rossellii, with J. Butcher, and Neoavanguardia, with P. Chirumbolo and L.Somigli. In 2006 he released Reflections on Icarus’ Lands, a DVD of poetry, electronic music, and images. In 2016 he released Reciting the Ashes, a CD/DVD for reciting voice, piano, and soprano. In 2018 he has released Recitativi, a CD of music and poetry created with composer James Glasgow of Strange Fangs Song Factory. Moroni has performed his work in dozens of events in Italy, the UK, Spain, France, Brazil, and across the United States.

Get in touch. James Glasgow Mario Moroni +1 607-222-1531  mmoroni@binghamton.edu strangefangs.com mariomoronipoet.com CONTACT +1 845-419-8495 james@strangefangs.com arrow_upward