LITERATURE + LECTURES

The Jung Center of Houston presents Maternity, Eternity: In the Midst of the Creative Process.  This special presentation by composer Anthony Brandt and bestselling author David Eagleman explores their singular, ongoing collaboration on the forthcoming oratorio "Maternity."

Encounter the creative process at work, and consider the deep history of maternal lines, in this presentation by the creators of the forthcoming oratorio "Maternity." In "Maternity," the soprano soloist considers her mother, her mother's mother, and so on up the maternal line - well past the point that the matriarchs are considered human. Composer Anthony Brandt and neuroscientist, author (Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives) and librettist David Eagleman will discuss their creative process from both artistic and scientific points of view and will share insights into their working methods. "Maternity" has been commissioned by the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra and will premiere in April 2012.

Anthony Brandt, PhD, is Associate Professor of Composition and Theory at the Shepherd School of Music and artistic director of the Houston-based contemporary music ensemble Musiqa. His chamber opera "The Birth of Something," with a libretto by Will Eno, is available on Albany Records. Dr. Brandt has been awarded Rice University's George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching and Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Prize. He is a recipient of an Individual Artist Grant Award for "Maternity." This grant is funded by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.

David Eagleman is a neuroscientist and a New York Times bestselling author. He directs the Laboratory for Perception and Action and the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law at Baylor College of Medicine. He is best known for his work on time perception, synesthesia, and neurolaw. His work of fiction, Sum, is an international bestseller published in 23 languages. His latest book, Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, has been published by Pantheon Books. Eagleman is a 2011-12 Guggenheim Fellow.