"The Sound of Stars"

In this unique collaboration between the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and Opera Santa Barbara and in celebration of the exhibition Through Vincent's Eyes: Van Gogh and His Sources, composer, pianist, Grammy nominee and Guggenheim Fellow Jake Heggie discusses the coming together of "The Starry Night," a song cycle inspired by the art of Vincent van Gogh with text taken from his letters and poetry by Anne Sexton and Emily Dickinson. Performed by mezzo soprano Erin Alford.

Heggie is the composer of 8 full length operas, several one acts, nearly 300 art songs as well as chamber, choral and orchestral works, Heggie has been called by the Wall Street Journal "Arguably the world's most popular 21 st century opera and art song composer."

This conversation and performance is the third in a series of three related Parallel Stories exploring connections between art forms, allowing us to see those influences at work in the process of composition, the performance of music, and the poetry of narrative from the 19th century to the present day.