Steven Mackey: MEMOIR

In Partnership with the Department of Music at Princeton University
Performed by:
arx duo
Aeolus Quartet
Natalie Christa Rakes, narrator

Saturday, April 18, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Sunday, April 19, 2026 at 2:00 PM

Berlind Theatre
Run Time: 75 minutes

Memoir is a theatrical musical work by GRAMMY Award-winning composer Steven Mackey and director Mark DeChiazza, exploring the tumultuous 20th century through the eyes of a first-generation American woman in pursuit of the American Dream.

Inspired by the unpublished memoir of Mackey’s mother, Elaine Mackey, Memoir is a visually and sonically captivating reflection on resilience, identity, and the power of storytelling. Scored for the unique combination of string quartet, percussion duo, and narrator, the piece traverses a diverse musical landscape—by turns witty, playful, rich, and profound.

Photo: Natalie Christa Rakes, narrator

“I get choked up when I think about the convergence of good luck, good work and good will, that brought me to this point: the McCarter Theatre, (regional host for artists of international acclaim), and the Princeton University Department of Music, (home for my entire career), are collaborating to bring one of my most ambitious works - and certainly most personal work – MEMOIR (based on my mother’s memoir) – to my hometown, marking the eve of my retirement.”

— Steven Mackey, Composer and Princeton University Shubael Conant Professor of Music

Artist Statement

Memoir is hard to describe – maybe opera without singing or story-telling wrapped in music. Moreover, I don’t know of any other work in which the text is so personally connected to the composer. The narration is taken from my mother’s memoir, and by the end it nearly becomes my own memoir.

I could not have written this 20 years ago. There is a level of vulnerability I would not have tolerated as a 50-year-old midcareer composer. By the time I became eligible for Medicare, and started working on Memoir, holding back seemed stingy, being “cool” had lost its appeal. In short … I have a story to tell and not forever to tell it. What am I waiting for?

There is something both frightening and exciting about presenting such a personal work in front of my hometown crowd. The text provides a context for the music which I think gives it a broader appeal than a purely instrumental work. The piece speaks in three layers: my mother’s text, a musical layer that represents her inner life and emotional state, and a wackier musical layer that portrays the physical world around her, such as a mimeograph machine and a Model T Ford.