Adeline Mueller (Mount Holyoke Coll.), Christopher Parton (Princeton Univ.), and Annette Richards (Cornell Univ.) (Web)

Time: 22.-23.11.2024
Venue: Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts – and virtual space

Program (Web)

Maria Theresia Paradis (1759-1824) was a celebrated Viennese prodigy and piano virtuosa whose story of blindness, quack treatments under Franz Mesmer, and fame as a touring musician has been retold in novels, films, and plays. But she was also a well-known composer, a beloved piano teacher, and an influential figure in the development of educational systems and adaptive technologies for the blind in Europe. In honor of Paradis’s bicentenary, our interdisciplinary symposium features two keynote speakers, Selina Mills and Stefan Sunandan Honisch, and a dozen international scholars discussing various aspects of Paradis‘ life, works, worlds, and impact. The symposium’s participants will also speak with artists responsible for fictional adaptations of Paradis’s biography, such as the film Licht (dir. Barbara Albert, 2017) and the chamber opera The Paradis Files (Graeae Theatre Company, 2021). The symposium features a hands-on, accessible exhibition of archival texts, images, and tools related to blind musicians and music education of the blind — including a modern-day replica of a composing board invented for Paradis. Musical events include two recitals of music by and about Paradis, and a reconstruction of one of Paradis’s Vienna school concerts from the 1810s, featuring the modern-day world premiere of a recently rediscovered Paradis cantata.

The symposium will be held both in person and online. Registration is free. All events and materials will be preserved and shared on the website (with audio descriptions) after the symposium as an accessible, open learning resource. For full program and registration information, visit the website (Web).

Conference organizers: Adeline Mueller (Mount Holyoke College), Christopher Parton (Princeton University), and Annette Richards (Cornell University). Questions? Email them at paradissymposium@gmail.com

Source: H-Net Notifications