Lemony Snicket’Äôs children’Äôs story comes alive with’Ä® composer Nathaniel Stookey

Winnipeg, MB - October 13, 2009 ’Äì Admired children’Äôs author Lemony Snicket’Äôs The Composer is Dead comes to Winnipeg in a breathtaking interactive performance of a symphonic murder mystery perfect for families being performed by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO). Mr. Snicket is also known for the wildly popular book: ’ÄúA Series of Unfortunate Events.’Äù
Composer Nathaniel Stookey presents and narrates this best selling novel with original text by Lemony Snicket on Sunday, October 18 at 2:00 p.m. at the Centennial Concert Hall in the Great-West Life, Great Explorations Sundays with the Family concert series. Original music by Mr. Stookey is based on symphonic masterpieces.

This New York Times best-selling picture book, with music by Nathaniel Stookey, is a mystery that needs to be solved at the Centennial Concert Hall, and all the suspects are lurking somewhere on stage! Each instrument is brought to dramatic life in this engaging introduction to the sections of the orchestra.

’ÄúIt’Äôs a guide to the orchestra in the guise of a murder mystery,’Äù says composer Mr. Stookey. ’ÄúThe narrator takes the role of the inspector who is investigating the murder of the composer. He interrogates all the sections of the orchestra as to why they would have wanted to off the composer. And they all have very good reasons.’Äù

Nathaniel Stookey, a native of San Francisco, CA, has collaborated with a remarkable range of artists, from The Mars Volta to the Philadelphia Orchestra. At 23, he was awarded the first Hallˆ© Orchestra Composition Fellowship, serving as resident composer under Kent Nagano from 1993-1996. In 2006, the San Francisco Symphony premiered their commissioned work, The Composer is Dead, with libretto by Lemony Snicket, which was immediately taken up by the Toronto Symphony’Äôs New Creations Festival and has since been programmed by orchestras across North America.

In partnership with Music for Young Children, families can also participate in pre-concert musical activities at 1:00 pm with crafts, rhythm ensembles and round-singing. Children can visit the Conducting Station where they get a chance to conduct a group of musicians or visit the Instrument Petting Zoo.

Sundays with the Family concert series is sponsored by Great-West Life.
Nathaniel Stookey is an accomplished living composer who is not entirely above suspicion in this perplexing murder mystery and available for interviews. Also available for media interviews is former Winnipegger Susan Rich who is Lemony Snicket’Äôs Editor.