John Ashbery's
Self-Portrait
in a Convex Mirror
for six voices

Parmigianino

Friday & Saturday
July 31 & August 1, 8 pm


Ancram Opera House
Ancram, New York


Arranged and Directed by Jim Paul
Read by Joan Arnold, Andrea Barnet, Jan Hanvik,
James Occhino, Jim Paul and Annie Walwyn-Jones

On July 31 and August 1, the Ancram Opera House will present
a staged reading of John Ashbery's long poem, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror - a great, dense work, certainly one of the defining poems of the 20th century.   The work will be presented by six readers: Joan Arnold, Andrea Barnet, Jan Hanvik, James Occhino,
Jim Paul and Annie Walwyn-Jones.  The reading makes the poem unusually accessible, as Ashbery's tonal shifts and juxtapositions are taken up by the different voices.

John Ashbery has won nearly every major American award
for poetry since his second volume, Some Trees, was selected
by W. H. Auden for the Yale Younger Poets Series in 1956.
Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror (1975) received the Pulitzer Prize
for Poetry, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the
National Book Award.

Ashbery began writing about art in 1957, serving as executive editor of Art News (1965-72), and art critic for New York Magazine (1978-80) and Newsweek (1980-85). A selection of his art writings was published by Knopf in 1989 as Reported Sightings.  This long poem, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror, springs from close description of the Renaissance painting by Francesco Parmigianino.  From the poem,

Vasari says, "Francesco one day set himself
To take his own portrait, looking at himself for that purpose
In a convex mirror, such as is used by barbers . . .
He accordingly caused a ball of wood to be made
By a turner, and having divided it in half and
Brought it to the size of the mirror, he set himself
With great art to copy all that he saw in the glass . . . "

Ashbery's Self-Portrait is a richly modulated meditation on
identity, art and death, often abstract, occasionally quite funny
and in the end deeply moving.

Click here for full narrative biography of John Ashbery.



Tickets:
Open seating -- $15 in advance / $20 at the door
Supporters -- Reserved tables / $40
Table seats include wine or beer and snacks

The Ancram Opera House
now sells hand-crafted beers and ales,
also fine wines.

Click here to buy tickets online for this event.
See below for other purchasing options.

Ancram Opera House
1330 County Route 7, Ancram, NY

logoadjusted

Room to Move for Body and Mind
Options
for
buying your tickets
   1.  If you 'd like to purchase tickets with a credit card, please do so online (a small service charge will apply).  Click here to buy tickets online for John Ashbery's Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror at the Ancram Opera House.

2.  You can also reserve seats by emailing us at info@ancramoperahouse.com or calling 518 329 7393.   Let us know your name, phone, show dates and times and how many tickets you'd like, table or general admission.   Please pay for these tickets by cash or check at the door.

3.  You can buy tickets at the door at a slightly higher cost on the evening of the event with cash or check.  Availability may be limited.
Thank you so much for supporting the Ancram Opera House!