The Composer is Dead
For Immediate Release
Contacts:
Angela Duryea Nicole Lantz
Shuman Associates HarperCollins
212-315-1300 212-261-6735
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"The Composer is Dead," Written by Lemony Snicket With Music by Nathaniel Stookey and Illustrations by Carson Ellis, to be Published by HarperCollins Children's Books March 3
"The Composer is Dead" is a picture book adaptation of a San Francisco Symphony Commission
In 2006 the San Francisco Symphony commissioned and gave the world premiere of The Composer is Dead, an uproarious musical whodunit for narrator and orchestra, which introduces the instruments of the orchestra to young audiences. Since then, The Composer is Dead, written by Lemony Snicket, the author of the bestselling A Series of Unfortunate Events, and composed by Nathaniel Stookey, has become a family favorite of orchestras around the world.* And why not? "Ever since I was a boy," said Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler), "classical music has made me weep uncontrollably. I hope The Composer is Dead does the same for a new generation."
Now on March 3, HarperCollins Children's Books will publish a picture book adaptation of The Composer is Dead with accompanying recording by the San Francisco Symphony narrated by Lemony Snicket himself and conducted by Edwin Outwater. With illustrations by Carson Ellis, "The Composer is Dead" makes it possible for young readers to listen and weep as the Inspector interrogates the instruments section by section to uncover the murderous culprit-from the hard-working violins to the suspicious clarinets. A video interview with Lemony Snicket and Nathaniel Stookey about "The Composer is Dead" is posted on YouTube at www.youtube.com/sfsymphony
The San Francisco Symphony has been referred to as "a music education powerhouse" by The New York Times, and The Composer is Dead is just one of its many projects to make classical music accessible and engaging to audiences of all ages through television, radio, and the internet, as well as in the concert hall and the classroom. Others are the multimedia Keeping Score series; the award-winning SFSKids.com Web site; Adventures in Music, providing a free comprehensive music education program to every San Francisco schoolchild in grades 1 through 5; Concerts for Kids and Music for Families concerts; the globe-trotting SFS Youth Orchestra, an instrument-training program for middle and high school students; as well as the orchestra's free community concerts throughout the Bay Area. The San Francisco Symphony is also an integral part of the new YouTube Symphony Orchestra program fostering a worldwide musical community via the internet under YouTube Artistic Director and Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Michael Tilson Thomas.
Lemony Snicket is the author of the 13-part A Series of Unfortunate Events books, which have sold more than 55 million copies worldwide in 39 languages. The first three books in the series formed the basis for the 2004 hit film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, starring Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep. Mr. Snicket is represented in all legal, literary, and social matters by Daniel Handler, who lives with his wife and son in San Francisco. Mr. Handler has written three novels for adults: The Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth, and Adverbs.
Nathaniel Stookey, a San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra alumnus, holds degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and Duke University, where he was a Mary Duke Biddle Fellow and was awarded the Klenz Prize. Concurrent with orchestral residencies at the Hallé Orchestra and the North Carolina Symphony, Stookey served on the faculties of the University of Sheffield (UK) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. From 1998 to 2003, he was artistic director of the Composers-in-Context Series for NPR affiliate WUNC-FM in Chapel Hill.
Lemony Snicket will narrate three performances of The Composer is Dead in March and April. On March 7 he joins the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall in New York, and the San Francisco Symphony in two California performances-at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco on Sunday, March 29 and the Flint Center in Cupertino on Saturday, April 4.
The Composer is Dead
Written by Lemony Snicket Music By Nathaniel Stookey Illustrations by Carson Ellis
HarperCollins Children's Books
Music Performed and Commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony
ISBN: 978-0-06-123627-3
On Sale: 3/3/2009 $17.99 Ages: 5 & up
http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com
If you have not received a copy of "The Composer is Dead" and would like one for review, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
February 20, 2009
*Since its premiere in 2006, The Composer is Dead has been performed in the following cities:
January 2007 - Toledo, OH
March 2007 - Toronto, ON
April 2007 - Las Cruces, NM
September 2007 - Memphis, TN
October 2007 - Redwood City, CA
October 2007 - Louisville, KY
October 2007 - Dayton, OH
October 2007 - Toledo, OH
October 2007 - Jacksonville, FL
October 2007 - Modesto, CA
October 2007 - Chicago, IL
January 2008 - Hamburg, Germany
January 2008 - New York, NY(Lincoln Center)
January 2008 - Columbus, GA
February 2008 - Syracuse, NY
February 2008 - Salt Lake City, UT
February 2008 - Los Angeles, CA
March 2008 - Los Angeles, CA
March 2008 - Raleigh, NC
March 2008 - Kitchener-Waterloo, ON
April 2008 - Minneapolis, MN
April 2008 - Norfolk, VA
April 2008 - Philadelphia, PA
April 2008 - Grand Rapids, MI
June 2008 - North Victoria, Australia
June 2008 - Dallas, TX
October 2008 - Midland, MI
October 2008 - Redwood City, CA
October 2008 - San Antonio, TX
November 2008 - Dayton, OH
January 2009 - Nashville, TN
March 2009 - New York, NY (Carnegie Hall)
March 2009 - San Francisco, CA
May 2009 - Reading, PA