2023 Artists: Session I
Kristina Marie Darling
Kristina Marie Darling is the author of thirty-six books of poetry, short story, and literary criticism. Her internationally awarded works, nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, have been recognized by leading institutions such as the Academy of American Poets, the Florence School of Fine Arts, and Cite Internationale des Arts (Paris) and have won numerous distinguished honors, fellowships, prizes, and awards. Darling is currently expert consultant with the U.S. Fulbright Commission, is Visiting Scholar and Publisher-in-Residence at the American Academy in Rome and is Editor-in-Chief of Tupelo Press & Tupelo Quarterly. She is on faculty with the School of the Arts, Columbia University. Darling will continue work on a new collection of poems, experimenting with form and introducing students to formal literary study and critical analysis. She will contribute a poetry reading and will offer poetry and creative writing workshops in the classroom.
Gavin Robertson and Nicholas Collett
British playwrights and actors Gavin Robertson and Nicholas Collett return to E2C after sold out performances of their original plays touring summer festivals throughout the UK and Australia. Following their popular fall dramatic series onstage at The REP, the celebrated collaborators will return to write a play exclusively for The REP Theatre. With a working title Shakespeare: Lovers and Liars, their compilation of unforgettable characters and enduring human entanglements will showcase the unique physical comedy and dramatic depths of Seaside’s beloved repertory company. The script will be presented onstage as an animated reading and the duo will teach rhythm and movement exercises for high school drama classes.
Dan Thomas
Jazz saxophonist, composer/arranger, educator, and arts administrator Dan Thomas has performed, recorded, and presented with some of the most influential jazz artists and pedagogues. An in-demand guest artist and lecturer around the world, Thomas has won countless performance awards. He has written and published over one hundred works for jazz ensembles, is director of Jazz Studies at Ottawa University (Kansas) and has been inducted into Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers three times. Thomas will use his residency as a creative lab to compose and arrange a set of new works destined for studio recording and worldwide performance. Thomas will contribute a performance at The REP Theatre and will lecture on the historic and cultural impacts of jazz.
Ju Underwood
Ju Underwood is a visual artist and writer originally from Scotland, UK. A former architect and fashion designer, Underwood’s ethereal paintings are influenced by years spent in Eastern cultures. Her canvasses reflect a philosophical approach meant to engage the viewer at meaningful levels of emotion and well-being. The London-based artist has exhibited in the UK, the Netherlands, Malaysia, and the U.S. Underwood will exhibit at Anne Hunter Galleries in downtown Seaside and will give an artist talk during a salon. Underwood will contribute classroom workshops highlighting the unique techniques used in her paintings.
Matthew Whittall
Canadian-Finnish composer Matthew Whittall lives in Helsinki, where he works as a freelance composer, and teaches composition and orchestration at the Sibelius Academy. He holds degrees in performance and composition from Vanier College, the University of Massachusetts, Stony Brook University, and the Sibelius Academy. He is recipient of numerous international awards and commissions including Finland’s highest composition award, The Teotso Prize. Whittall’s residency will be devoted to completing a commission from the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra to inaugurate the new concert organ of the Helsinki Music Center. The composer will present his piano concerto, Nameless Seas, written while an 2008 E2C artist and will coordinate classroom visits with area music teachers.