Yesterday Nordic Voices received a beautiful new libretto from the American artist Andrew Ondrejcak. Shara Worden (known as singer and songwriter for My Brightest Diamond) will set Music to the piece called Two Lovers. In Ondrejcak’s short cinematic text, a couple finds themselves alone in nature. As night overtakes them, their bodies and voices disappear into darkness. Ondrejcak uses a unique graphic libretto to tell the story.
About this assignment he said: “It was really wonderful listening to and writing for Nordic Voices. I think the piece will be stunning.”
Andrew was raised in Mississippi, studied architecture and painting at Savannah College of Art and Design and, later, playwriting at Brooklyn College. His work with experimental theater led him to a career in art direction and production design in the fashion industry where he became one of New York’s most sought-after production designers, known for large-scale environmental installations.
As a performance-maker, Ondrejcak’s works have been presented at The Kitchen (2016), BAM Harvey Theater in Next Wave Festival (2015), The Public Theater in Under the Radar Festival (2014), deSingel International Arts Campus, Antwerp (2013); Holland Festival, Amsterdam (2014); Kampnagel, Hamburg (2013) and the Guggenheim Museum’s Works in Process (2011) curated by Robert Wilson. He reperformed the work of Marina Abramovic in The Artist is Present at MoMA (2010).
In 2013, Ondrejcak was Artist in Residence at the Baryshnikov Arts Center and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council on Governor’s Island. In 2015-2016, Ondrejcak was Artist in Residence at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City.