NYU Skirball To Present the World Premiere Ethan Philbrick's Choral Work THE CONQUEST OF BREAD

NYU Skirball will present Ethan Philbrick's The Conquest of Bread, a free May Day Special Event, on Thursday, May 1 at 7:30 pm. The world premiere choral work is inspired by Russian anarchist and philosopher Peter Kropotkin's 1892 critique of capitalism, The Conquest of Bread, and features four vocal ensembles:  a quartet of opera singers, a trio of performance artists, the community chorus Sing in Solidarity, and an ensemble of 5th - 9th grade singers. The performance is free, but reservations are required.

This eclectic assortment of singers — grassroots organizers, professional vocalists, wayward performance artists — will vocalize excerpts of Kropotkin's 19th-century work and intone his often-repeated call: “Well-Being for All!.” While Kropotkin's refrain may seem simple, in a world marked by increasing brutality and unevenly distributed life chances, it continues to prove elusive. This ensemble musical performance takes Kropotkin's language as its textual material for a series of choral experiments.

The performers include singers Gelsey Bell, Hai-ting Chinn, Catherine Brookman and  Lukas Papenfusscline (aka "leiken"); and performance artists mayfield brooks, Jennifer Miller and Anh Vo, joined by the community chorus Sing in Solidarity, and an ensemble of 5th - 9th grade singers. 

Ethan Philbrick, a cellist, performance artist, and writer, is interested in the intersection between musical performance art and abolitionist politics. His work has been praised for its uniqueness and beauty. He holds a PhD in performance studies from New York University and has taught performance theory and practice at Pratt Institute, Muhlenberg College, New York University, Wesleyan College, Yale University, and The New School. He is currently performance curator at The Poetry Project. In 2023, Philbrick published Group Works: Art, Politics, and Collective Ambivalence with Fordham University Press. He is part of the musical-theatrical project DAYS and has presented solo and collaborative performances in NYC and across the country. His musical performances have been called “overwhelmingly beautiful” and “extremely strange” in The Nation and his writing has been characterized as “rich and fascinating” in e-flux.  ethanphilbrick.com

NYU Skirball, led by Director Jay Wegman, embraces transdisciplinary artists who surprise, productions that astound, and thought leaders who are mind-blowing. One of NYC's leading presenters of international dance and theater, its roster of international artistic visionaries command the Skirball stage, often with North American or World Premieres, including Philip Glass (USA), Milo Rau (Switzerland), Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker (Belgium), Krystian Lupa (Poland), Wooster Group (USA), Lucinda Childs (USA), Jan Fabre (Belgium), Mette Ingvartsen (Denmark), Teatro La Re-Sentida (Chile), Trajal Harrell (USA), Elevator Repair Service (USA), Forced Entertainment (U.K.), Philippe Quesne (France), Florentina Holzinger (Belgium), Toshiki Okada (Japan), Seongbukdong Beedoolkee (Korea), and many others.

NYU Skirball is located in the heart of Greenwich Village, a long-time destination for avant-garde artists, free-thinking intellectuals, and political dissidents. NYU Skirball's celebrates this history, embracing works that engage, provoke and inspire audiences. NYC's home for cutting-edge performance, artistic research, and discourse, the Center's programming ranges from re-inventions of the classics to cutting-edge premieres, in genres ranging from dance, theatre and performance arts to music and film.