Phoebe Hemenway Legere is a multi-disciplinary artist. She is a Juilliard-educated composer, soprano, pianist and accordionist, painter, poet, and a film maker. A graduate of

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...

with a four octave vocal range, Legere has recorded for Mercury Records in England, and for Epic, Island, Rizzoli, Funtone, ESP Disk and Einstein Records in the United States. Legere plays seven musical instruments and has released 15 CDs of original music. She has appeared on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

''Sunday Morning'',

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

's ''City Arts'', WNYC's ''Soundcheck'', Charlie Rose and in films by Troma, Island Pictures,

Rosa von Praunheim Holger Bernhard Bruno Mischwitzky (born Holger Radtke; 25 November 1942), known professionally as Rosa von Praunheim, is a German film director, author, painter and one of the most famous gay rights activists in the German-speaking world. In ov ...

, Ela Troyano and Ivan Galietti, Abel Ferrara, Jonathan Demme, Ivan Reitman and many others. Legere is of Acadian and

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pre ...

descent through her father. She is a standard bearer of the Acadian and Abenaki renaissance in America.

History

Legere's parents were both artists. She began piano lessons at age 3, and learned the techniques of oil painting and draftsmanship when she was age 5, and by age 9 was a professional musician. She has never taken a singing lesson. She had her debut at Carnegie Hall at age 16. As the opening act for

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

on his 1990

Sound+Vision Tour In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

US tour, Legere played her original songs for 20,000 people a night. A huge forklift brought a white grand piano to the stage, where she performed with her seminal punk-rock band, the Four Nurses of the Apocalypse. In 2000, with composer Morgan Powell, she co-wrote ''The Waterclown'' – a musical setting of her epic poem about water issues, "The Waterclown" – for the

Cleveland Chamber Symphony The Cleveland Chamber Symphony is an American chamber orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music, and has presented over 200 performance premieres. History The Cleveland Chamber Sym ...

. Beginning in 2001, Legere worked as Head Writer, on-air host, and interviewer for ''Roulette TV'', a collection of video programs broadcast online and on New York City cable television, that captures the creative process of live performance at "the extreme frontier edge of art and music" and is dedicated to experimental art and music. Legere's musical invention the Sneakers of Samothrace were the subject of one episode of the program on 9 December 2007. She was interviewed afterward by

David Behrman David Behrman (born August 16, 1937) is an American composer and a pioneer of computer music. In the early 1960s he was the producer of Columbia Records' ''Music of Our Time'' series, which included the first recording of Terry Riley's ''In C''. ...

, an American composer and pioneer of computer music, revealing that her first job was resident composer for

The Wooster Group The Wooster Group is a New York City-based experimental theater company known for creating numerous original dramatic works. It gradually emerged from Richard Schechner's The Performance Group (1967–1980) during the period from 1975 to 1980, an ...

and discussing in detail their influence on her art making. Legere is Founder and archivist for the New York Underground Museum (founded 2006). In 2013, she created The Shamancycle, a four-wheeled alternative vehicle designed in the form of a moving giant eagle sculpture constructed from repurposed metal and powered by alternative energy and having room for 15 people, the idea for which came to her in a dream. In 2015, Legere appeared on ''It's Me, Hilary: The Man Who Drew Eloise'', an HBO documentary produced by

Lena Dunham Lena Dunham (, born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is known as the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series ''Girls (TV series), Girls'' (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy ...

about Hilary Knight who is best known as the illustrator of

Kay Thompson Kay Thompson (born Catherine Louise Fink; November 9, 1909''"In the St. Louis Registry of Births, in the volume covering the period July 1909 – January 1910, on page 85, is the following entry: "Catherine Louise Fink, November 9, 1909."''

's ''Eloise'' series of children's books. Legere was touring again in 2017, bringing art and music to the children in low income communities on behalf of her nonprofit Foundation for New American Art, founded in 2016. Legere, who has Native American heritage, has been an outspoken advocate for female, gay, Native American, and universal civil rights. She will represent North America at
Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...
2018. She wrote and starred in the play ''Speed Queen: The Joe Carstairs Story'', performing as multiple characters in a musical about the life of Marion Barbara 'Joe' Carstairs (1900-1993), the wealthy British power boat racer known for her speed and eccentric lifestyle. The production combined storytelling, painting, sculpture, movie stars, costumes, and music. Legere performed this transdisciplinary play seven times between March 7 and March 24, 2018, at
Dixon Place Dixon Place is a theater organization in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population o ...
, in the main performance space of the New York City theater organization dedicated to the development of artwork from a broad range of performers and artists.

Personal life
Legere is gender-fluid.

Discography
* ''Trust Me'', 1986, Epic Records * ''Marilyn Monroe'', 1989, Island Records * ''Phoebe Legere'', 1993, Ripe & Ready/Dead Dog Records * ''Six Flights Up'',1995, Funtone Records * ''Four Nurses of the Apocalypse'', 1995, Mysterious Ways * ''1000 Kisses'',1996, Funtone Records *
Last Tango In Bubbleland
', 1997, Random Records * ''Blue Curtain'', 2000, Einstein Records * ''Blind Pursuits'', 2001 (with Jim Staley and Borah Bergman), Einstein Records * ''Children of the Dawn'', 2007 (with Ken Little Hawk), Mysterious Ways * ''The Common Root of All Organisms'', 2007 (with Morgan Powell and the Tone Road Ramblers), Einstein Records * ''The Prairie'', 2007 (with Morgan Powell and the Tone Road Ramblers), Einstein Records * ''The Imaginary Opera'', DVD 2008, Einstein Records (Compilation with Kathy Supové,
Oliver Lake Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano and flute. During the 1960s, Lake worked with the Black ...
) * ''Ultra Romantic Parallel Universe'', 2009 (with
Leo Abrahams Leo Matthew Abrahams (born 1977 in Camden, London) is an English musician, composer and producer. He has collaborated with a multitude of professional musicians, including Brian Eno, Katie Melua, Imogen Heap, Jarvis Cocker, Carl Barât, Regina ...
), Unrest Cure, Mercury Records * ''Dark Energy'', 2009 (with
Eric Mandat Eric Paul Mandat (born 1957) is an American clarinetist and composer. Mandat began his clarinet studies under the tutelage of Richard Joiner of the Denver Symphony. He later studied with Lee Gibson, Keith Wilson, D. Stanley Hasty, and Charles ...
and the Tone Road Ramblers), Einstein Records * ''Ooh La La Coq Tail'', 2010, Mysterious Ways * ''Earth Singing World'', 2010, ESP Disk * ''East Village/East Berlin'' 2013, Mysterious Ways * ''Acadian Moon'', 2015, Big Moose Records * ''Heart of Love'', 2017

Plays
* In 2001, Legere received a NYSCA grant to write ''The Queen of New England'', an experimental multimedia opera about the Massachusetts Native American Holocaust. * Her musical, ''Hello Mrs. President'', about the first African American woman president of the United States played four times in New York City. In 1991, the first woman president was played by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame star LaVerne Baker. * Her musical, ''Shakespeare and Elizabeth'', about the life of Elizabeth l, premiered at Theater for the New City on December 5, 2013. * ''Speed Queen'', performed in March 2018.

Filmography
* '' Mondo New York'' (1988) * ''
The Toxic Avenger Part II ''The Toxic Avenger Part II'' is a 1989 American superhero black comedy film released by Troma Entertainment. It is the second installment of ''The Toxic Avenger'' franchise. It was directed by Lloyd Kaufman and features The Toxic Avenger in an ...
'' (1989) * '' The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie'' (1989) * ''
King of New York ''King of New York'' is a 1990 neo-noir gangster film directed by Abel Ferrara and written by Nicholas St. John. It stars Christopher Walken as a New York City drug kingpin rebuilding his criminal empire after his release from prison, while al ...
'' (1990) * '' Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.'' (1991) * ''Le Marquis de Slime'' (1997) * ''The Bar Channel'' (1998) * '' Sin City Spectacular'' (Episode #1.16) * '' The Naked Brothers Band'' (2007) Nickelodeon, Dir. Polly Draper * ''Wie ich lernte, die Zahlen zu lieben/How I Learned to Love the Numbers'' (2014) by Oliver Sechting & Max Taubert

See also

List of people in Playboy 1980–1989 This list of people in ''Playboy'' 1980–1989 is a catalog of women and men who appeared in ''Playboy'' magazine in the years 1980 through 1989. Not all of the people featured in the magazine are pictured in the nude. Entries in indicate t ...

References

External links

Official Music Site

Paintings, Drawings, SoundArt by Phoebe Legere

The Shamancycle by Phoebe Legere
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Legere, Phoebe American cabaret performers American women painters American women composers Living people American stage actresses American people of French-Canadian descent American women singer-songwriters American women dramatists and playwrights American people of Acadian descent Vassar College alumni American film actresses American television actresses 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American writers 21st-century American composers Artists from New York City Performance art in New York City 21st-century American women writers Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Singers with a four-octave vocal range LGBT rights activists from the United States 1963 births 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century women composers Feminist musicians Non-binary musicians