One morning an office worker starts to read aloud a copy of The Great Gatsby he finds in the clutter on his desk. At first his coworkers hardly notice, but after a series of coincidences, it’s no longer clear whether he’s reading the book or the book is transforming him.

American playwright Will Eno talks about his work in a conversation with Derek Bermel, the Institute’s Artist-in-Residence. Eno is the author of Tragedy: a tragedy; The Flu Season; King: a problem play; Oh, the Humanity and other good intentions; and the one-act plays Lady Grey (in ever lower light), Intermission, and Mr. Theatre Comes Home Different, among other works.

Listen to pianist Timothy Andres discuss music with Derek Bermel, Institute Artist-in-Residence.

Listen to pianists Uri Caine and Mario Laginha discuss music with Institute Artist-in-Residence Derek Bermel.

American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim talks about his life and work in a conversation with Derek Bermel, the Institute’s Artist-in-Residence. Sondheim, whose works for Broadway include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Pacific Overtures, Into the Woods, and Assassins, received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Sunday in the Park with George in 1985. He also wrote the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy. He is the author of Finishing the Hat (Knopf, 2010) and Look, I Made a Hat (Knopf, 2011). Sondheim has received seven Tony Awards, an Academy Award, and seven Grammy Awards. He also was among the recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors in 1993.

Alex Ross, music critic of the New Yorker, joins Derek Bermel, the Institute’s Artist-in-Residence, in a discussion of the challenges in writing about music for different formats, including books, magazines, newspapers, and blogs.

Composer and Institute Artist-in-Residence Derek Bermel and Princeton Symphony Orchestra conductor Rossen Milanov offer unique insights into Bermel’s orchestral suite Thracian Echoes as a prelude to its New Jersey premiere performance at the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s March 20 Classical Series concert.

Violinist Steven Copes, flutist Tara Helen O'Connor, and cellist Edward Arron join in a conversation about music with Institute Artist-in-Residence Derek Bermel.

Shimon Attie, an internationally renowned visual artist, presents and discusses a variety of his work, from his early site-specific installations across Europe through his more recent artworks that involve multiple-channel immersive video installations. He also discusses his new piece, MetroPAL.IS., an eight-channel video installation in-the-round, filmed with members of the Israeli and Palestinian communities of New York. MetroPAL.IS.

Listen to members of the string quartet Brooklyn Rider discuss music with Institute Artist-in-Residence Derek Bermel.