Questions for Igor
Is this piece for real?
Yes, it is. I took me nine months to write it and even longer to find musicians and singers to perform it. It’s real. If you still don’t believe me, buy the recording. (link to store page) Come on, I dare you!
Why the heck would anyone want to touch this topic?
Well, I don’t see this piece primarily as a showcase for lurid sexual harassment charges. I think of it more as a character study of a man who is trusted and revered by literally millions of people. No one gets to that position by mere bluster and ambition. He’s a complex person, and that is evident from the complaint against him. I never wrote it for cheap laughs at his predicament. That sort of approach would produce two of the longest hours in the history of music.
Sexual harassment is a serious subject. Are you trivializing it by highlighting it in this way?
I realize the seriousness inherent in the charges, but I don’t address it as a social issue. It’s subject matter.
Isn’t this just a hit-piece against O’Reilly?
No, I’m not out to rattle O’Reilly’s cage and I don’t seek to promote myself by denigrating him. This piece and its source text are a bit more complex for that. Honestly, on certain levels, he’s an admirable fellow. He has become successful on his own terms. Currently, he’s still the most-watched pundit on cable television. Sure, he sometimes has a tenuous relationship with the truth. That’s not why people watch him. They watch him for his passion, bluster and his seeming ability to address their concerns. He is master of the kabuki theater that is punditry. If you’re still not convinced of my intentions, ask yourself this: If I really wanted to make O’Reilly look bad, why would I do it in oratorio form? I could have just scrawled some anti-O’Reilly profanity on a building in spray paint.
This case was settled out of court and was finalized with a “no wrongdoing” clause, dismissing the charges against O’Reilly. Do you think it really happened as described
in Andrea Mackris’ complaint?
We’ll never know for sure. On the one hand, I can’t see Mackris inventing these charges. On the other, if O’Reilly’s behavior had been so objectionable, Mackris could have reported it to someone in the News Corp. organization before taking legal action. Once again, I don’t treat the material as true or false, but as subject matter in a musical drama that tells a story.
What’s an oratorio anyway?
Think of it as an opera with no scenery.
You’re a jazz musician, what are you doing writing this kind of music?
Creating music is about embracing a certain set of sensibilities. These sensibilities don’t differ too radically from one genre to the next. The approach to harmony is a little different between jazz and baroque, but an ensemble of this size allows for a lot of crossover. Once you’re comfortable in the format, the prime concern becomes avoiding musical clichés. I was far more successful than I had hoped. My aim was to embody characteristics of the baroque era, not reproduce the tired riffs employed by lesser lights. Did I succeed? You be the judge
What was it like bringing the piece to the stage?
Georges Clemenceau once said that “war is a series of catastrophes that results in a victory.” The phrase seems to sum up the staging process quite succinctly. While this was no war, it did include an array of calamities that began the day I finished it and continued until the end of the last note on the evening of January 13th. In some respects, it continues to this day. I embarked on the performance process with a certain amount of naïveté and foolishness. I had never done anything like this before, so what the heck did I know? I chose to take the quickest route to the stage by hitching my wagon to those who couldn’t deliver, so the premiere was delayed until I could find more trustworthy people. This took quite a while, so the performance was even further delayed. Once the date loomed large in front of me, I ignored all feelings of creeping doubt and uncertainty and threw myself into all aspects of bringing it to the public. By that time, I had full confidence in the piece and all of its players. In those final few weeks before the performance, I didn’t have to yell at anyone. I knew that I would be given the best possible reading and that all the big decisions were already far behind me. I was remarkably relaxed for somebody who was spending his life savings on such a dubious project. Even last-minute treachery and foul weather didn’t really faze me. I enjoyed every second of the rehearsal week. Both performances were excellent and have been distilled into a great recording. You can buy it here.
What were you expecting in the aftermath of Mackris v. O'Reilly?
As I mentioned, I was quite naïve coming into this project. That’s no crime; in fact, it was crucial to my completion of the work. If I’d known about the obstacles I would encounter, I would have thought twice about completing the piece. Luckily, I was blind to them until they slammed into me at inopportune times, but no matter. In the run-up to performance, I had envisioned lots of media attention, owing to the piece’s content and scope. To a certain extent, that didn’t happen, but I did get some very favorable local coverage. The premiere was, as I mentioned, excellent, but what did I expect afterwards? Well, I was laid off from my job at the end of December, so I couldn’t go back there. But I did hope for something transformative to happen in the wake of the performance. I’m not sure what it ever was. Sometimes, I hoped that I would be enlisted by certain nebulous parties to score films. After all, I wrote around two and a half hours of competent music in nine months while I was working full time. That’s a pretty swift output. Other times, I just hoped that the publicity surrounding the piece would lead to more jazz gigs. That’s my first love. Neither has happened thus far. I don’t lament my fate in the least. Once again, it’s no crime to imagine the best possible outcome, however far-fetched. I mean, I devoted more than two years of my life to this piece and would not have made it through with my sanity intact without entertaining a few wild hopes. By March, it became apparent that my life wasn’t going to be magically changed, so I did what anyone who writes music would do – I began writing tons of music, a piece a day, every day (well, almost every day).
