INNOCENTS

Directed by Rachel Dickstein
Dramaturgy, Emily Morse
Based on Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth"
Presented by Ripe Time

At The Ohio Theatre
66 Wooster Street
New York, NY
January 8th - February 5th, 2005

Sound from the production: Waltz, Bellomont , Wave (226k mp3) , Abandon

"….Innocents is full of magical moments….effective use of chamber music composed by Katie Down."

- New York Times

"Original music, composed by Katie Down, enhances the production; there is a languorous feel to the score, which is performed on piano, violin, and cello."

- Theatre Mania

"The beautiful original score by Katie Down, a recorded composition of cello, piano, and violin, also provides flow to the heightened storytelling."

- NY Theatre .com

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A GIRL JOAN

By Erica Berg
Music by Katie Down
Presented By The Culture Project and Women Center Stage

At The Culture Project
45 Bleecker Street
New York, NY
July 15 - 25, 2004

"A Girl Joan is an exquisite work of art."

- Show Business Weekly

"…totally possessed by spiritual powers…striking."

- New York Times

"Composer-musician, Katie Down heightens and propels the story with her original score which she performs on stage. With extraordinary conviction and poetic simplicity they weave a remarkable, dark, nuanced tale."

- New York Times Online

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SHEVA B'RACHOT: SEVEN BLESSINGS

Choreographed by Barry Blumenfeld
Presented by Tap Fusion

At the Duke on 42nd Street
New York, NY
April 24 - April 26, 2003

Sound from the production: Blessing (661k mp3)

 

"Inspired by his own wedding, choreographer Barry Blunenfeld is now working with ritual in Sheva B'rachot (Hebrew for Seven Blessings) with wonderful music by Katie Down who played with sounds of water in a bowl as well as numerous musical instruments. "

- Dance Magazine

"Sheva B'rachot was inspired by Blumenfeld's own wedding but it also celebrates the marriage of live music and dance with a beautiful score by Katie Down along with vocalists Nikki Maack and Suzie Mellring and percussionist Greg Burrows."

- The Dance Insider

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VISION WHISPER

An exhibit exploring the relationships between visual and aural media
Janusz Jaworski /Katie Down (link to sounds and images)

At chashama
135 W. 42nd Street
New York, NY
November 1-16, 2002

Some sounds from the installation: three little words, through the startled air, burning of his notes

The degree to which the images and sounds mirrored each other were integrated were equally remarkable. Both Jaworski and Down are fluent in their respective mediums and their sensibilities appear to be acutely attuned to each other.

Down, composing freely in the avant gard tradition of Cage, created her musical pieces from a host of recordings and aural samplings, snatches of song, nursery rhymes, spoken word fragments and other sources that she combined in surprisingly coherent sound collages.

To attempt to describe accurately what was accomplished in their separate yet harmoniously melded mediums would be presumptuous. Suffice to say, their collaboration succeeded splendidly, pointing the way for further explorations of the innate relationship between color and form, rhythm and sound.

- Gallery & Studio

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  THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD (or How Not to do it Again)

By Jean-Claude van Italie
Directed by Kim Mancuso
Presented by Boston Center for the Arts and Pilgrim Theatre

At The Boston Center for the Arts / Cyclorama
539 Tremont Street
Boston, MA
August 13 - 29, 1999

Sound from the production: Merging

"an ear-catching Tibetan Book of the Dead…more sonically ambitious, the Tibetan Book of the Dead features Katie Down, Eve Lindi, Matt Samolis and Leo Loginov all playing exotic instruments that create a musical score of childlike intimacy to cacophonous surreality"

- Boston Globe

"….under the immensely creative direction of Kim Mancuso and Musical Direction of Katie Down, an extraordinary effort has been made to help audiences find their way into this handbook for the afterlife."

- Boston Herald

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LETTERS FROM SARAJEVO

By Anna Cataldi
Directed by Kim Mancuso
Presented by Boston Center for the Arts and Pilgrim Theatre

At The Boston Center for the Arts
539 Tremont Street
Boston, MA
November 30 - December 10, 1996

"Letters from Sarajevo is as poignant, powerful tapestry of music and theatre…the real grounding of the play is provided by Katie Down's superb score. She and a trio of instrumentalists create a colorful musical web that supports the entire work."

- Boston Herald

"Letters from Sarajevo affects a kind of Brechtian-style commentary on the terrors and ridiculousness of war. Musically, the use of accordion, various percussiosn, flutes, and the sound of a typewriter evoke an appropriate Kurt Weill atmosphere. Beautifully sung folk songs, presumably in the native Slavic languages, enhance a feel of authenticity."

- South End News

"To its credit, Pilgrim Theatre doesn't try to pretty up the living conditions of those who describe themselves as 'half dead'. The letters are performed on a barren stage. The actors make use of a few simple props and costumes and the visual chiaroscuro, with the cast gliding nimbly in and out of spotlights. Director Kim Manucso and Musical Director Katie Down have wisely added Bosnian music and dance to redeem the combination of gloom and tenacity in the face of adversity. A wedding, a production of Hair, a grotesque stand-up comedy routine - all these self-conscious escapes from terrifying reality deepen the pathos by lightening the mood."

- Boston Phoenix

"To the credit of Pilgrim Theatre and co-script adapters Kim Mancuso and Katie Down, this passionate profile of Sarajevo divided by four years of war, transcends politics and mere history to celebrate the courage of all Bosnians. Blending Bosnian, Croatian, Macedonian, Serbian and Jewish music along with original pieces, Katie Down and three talented musicians on accordion, flute, violin, tambura, bazouki, guitar and voice, reach out for a harmony of peace."

- Middlesex News