Cynthia Hopkins is an American performance artist, composer, and musician. Review of Hopkins' performance of ''Accidental Nostalgia'' at the Edinburgh Festival.

Performance work

She has written, composed, and performed five works of performance art at a number of theaters around the world, including St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York, The Kitchen in Manhattan, and the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...

in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On December 21, 2012 she performed during and had her music performed on the John Hodgman: Ragnarok special, which was streamed on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on June 20, 2013. Her work, ''This Clement World'', was reviewed in ''The New York Times'' by Jason Zinoman and by

Charles Isherwood Charles Splaine Isherwood Jr. (born October 1964) is an American theater critic. Career A graduate of Stanford University, Isherwood wrote for '' Backstage West'' in Los Angeles. In 1993, he joined the staff of '' Variety'', where he was promote ...

. In addition Hopkins' work as a solo performance artist, she regularly collaborates with Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar of the Big Dance Theater and acts in other theatrical pieces. This work has included ''Alan Smithee Directed This Play'' (BAM Next Wave Festival 2015) and ''Ich, Kürbisgeist'' (The Kitchen 2014). In her work as a performer, Hopkins sings and plays the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

, guitar, piano, and the

musical saw A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is a hand saw used as a musical instrument. Capable of continuous glissando (portamento), the sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin. The musical saw is classified as a plaque frict ...

. As a musician, she has self-produced five full-length albums. In 2019, Hopkins began collaborating with composer

James Lavino James Dixon Lavino (born March 7, 1973) is an American composer and songwriter, known especially for his choral music and his music for film and television. Life and career Before 2002 Lavino was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended t ...

. They later formed the band Fellwalker. Their debut EP, ''Shelter'', was released in 2020. A second EP, ''The Long Distance'', and a full-length album, ''Love Is the Means'', were released in 2021. They are frequent collaborators with drummers Dave King of The Bad Plus and Charlie Hall of The War on Drugs.

Discography

* Gloria Deluxe (1999) * Hooker (2000) * Devotionals (2001) * Alas Alack (2002) * Accidental Nostalgia (2005) * Must Don’t Whip ‘Um (2008) * The Success of Failure (or, The Failure of Success) (2009) * The Truth: A Tragedy (2010)

with Fellwalker

* 2020: ''Shelter'' P* 2021: ''The Long Distance'' P* 2021: ''Love Is the Means'' * 2023: ''Redeemable'' P

Awards and Fellowships

* Bessie Award *

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

(two-time winner) * Alpert Award in Theater (2007) *

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

(2010)
Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Grants to Artists award (2015)

References

External links

Cynthia Hopkins' Official Website

MikeyPod Podcast interview with Cynthia Hopkins
Living people Bessie Award winners Obie Award recipients American women songwriters Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women {{US-musician-stub