When Phoebe Legere describes her art,
she doesn’t talk only about notes,
instruments, or performance.
She talks about floating pianos, recycled
costumes dredged from
Venetian canals, and children’s
sneakers that make music with every step.
The visionary singer, composer,
and multi-instrumentalist — who’s
been compared to everyone from Beethoven
to Edith Piaf —
has always blurred the lines between music,
theater, and activism.
On August 31, she brings it all together with the
premiere of her new film The Gender Symphony
at the
Phoenicia Playhouse.
“I was the director of the film. I’m in the film.
I designed all of the costumes from junk that I
found floating in the canals of Venice,”
Legere said.
“I also did the animation for the film.
It’s called The Gender Symphony and it is about
a man and a woman suddenly magically
switching places.”
The project reflects her lifelong fascination
with the differences — and striking similarities —
between men and women. “It is the basis
of almost all of art and music.
And of course, it is the engine for love,
the greatest of human activities,” she said.
Legere describes her style as eco-magic —
art that reuses and reinvents, turning the
discarded into something visionary.
That philosophy flows through the film’s
theme song, “2 Pianos,”released as a single
last week. Inspired by the sinking
of the Titanic, where two grand pianos
were seen floating among icebergs and
wreckage, Legere transformed the image into a
metaphor for art’s survival in the face of tragedy.
“Art persists in the greatest tragedy,
in the greatest confusion.
Art does not die,” she said.
Her work is never just about performance.
As executive director of the
Foundation for New American Art, Legere
helps bring free music and art education
to children in low-income communities
across New York City and Poughkeepsie.
That work even inspired one of her inventions:
the “Sneakers of Samothrace,” musical shoes
that create rhythm through tiny movements
of the foot. Originally designed to
encourage children with
disabilities to walk again, the sneakers
now feature in her compositions —
including “2 Pianos.”
The film is already making waves abroad,
winning 19 international festival prizes.
Meanwhile, the single is gaining
traction on Spotify playlists in France,
Haiti, Belgium, and Quebec.
But Legere is quick to connect her
success to a bigger purpose.
“We are living in an extraordinary
political moment,” she said.
“But I don’t believe in despair.
What I believe in is creativity,
and I believe that we can
sing our way
forward together.”
Her message is simple, but radical:
“Creativity and kindness
are the most radical form of power.”
The Gender Symphony premieres
Sunday, August 31, at the Phoenicia Playhouse.
TO LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE
INTERVIEW, PLEASE VISIT:
https://wjffradio.org/phoebe-legere-brings-eco-magic-to-phoenicia/
Image Credit: PhoebeLegere.com
I really enjoyed the interview with
musician-artist Phoebe Legere.
Her take on creativity fueling
hope for our troubled times is powerful.
I look forward to learning more
about her art education nonprofit and
her eco projects. Thank you , Tim Bruno!