Listen to an hour of works by Grammy-nominated composer and writer Garry Eister from The Pictures in My Head Radio Theatre. The program's featured piece is "The Crossing,” a sci-fi thriller set 100 years in the future. It takes place on the Shackleton Lunar Research station, which is threatened by a hurtling neutron star, passing too close to the earth and the moon. The themes of the story -- unanticipated danger, a scramble to prepare and a new normal -- resonate with our current pandemic circumstance. The radio play was written by Garry Eister and Michael Glaviano, and is based on Glaviano's story of the same name.
The drama includes performances by Billy Breed, Garry, Mary and Joe Eister, Jackie Hildebrand, Suzy Newman and Eric Stein. The performances were recorded at safe distances: in a home studio, an ad hoc recording space in a garage and some, even, over the phone!
Also in this hour: performances of Eister's "Slam!" and "Sorrow," two pieces for musical instruments made of glass, performed by Philipp Marguerre of Borkheide, Germany and The Glass Duo of Gdansk, Poland. And the program will include the premier of Eister's "Bob Drops His Name at the Pearly Gates," a tiny comic radio opera featuring Eister and Bay Area Soprano Ann Moss. The opera is a fable about an angel and the newly-dead Bob, who finds forgiveness for something awful he may or may not have done. Finally, we will hear from the Glass Duo and London recording studio owner Dare Summer about how the pandemic is affecting their musical lives and livelihoods.