The nature of human being is to connect through story telling using words, music and imagery. Composer and sound researcher Peter Michael von der Nahmer devotes his life to realizing the myriad ways these primal expressions of the “self” intersect and build upon one another. He has devised an approach he calls MuTaDra (Music – Theatre – Drama); the idea being that discoveries can be made between the worlds of music, theater and drama. MuTaDra is a structure designed to help us learn from the drama inherent in all our lives, on and off the stage.
Mike brought MuTaDra to New Ulm, Minnesota this past summer where he served as the 2016 McKnight Visiting Composer with the American Composers Forum. He worked with seniors from the Orchard Hill Assisted Living Community in the musical telling of their stories growing up, raising families and growing “young” once again in this German/American town. In 2018 he has brought MuTaDra to Queens, NY thanks to his award of a SU-CASA residency where artists are placed with senior centers across New York City.
Mike is an agent of radical connection. His defining motivation is to create harmony out of dissonance. He explores the depths of human experience and is a master at fostering collaboration. Mike is bringing the First Musical Tales Concerto Festival to New Ulm, Minnesota in 2018. He has lined up a five-day festival and workshop in Munich, Germany for the Bayerische Theaterakademie and is planning to bring a similar festival to New York City early in 2019.
Being on a life-long journey of conscious discovery, Mike von der Nahmer is at the tipping point in his compositional career. His decades of hard work and preparation are meeting with an increasing number of exciting new opportunities (see his bio – attached – for full details.) His work has been recently recognized by the New York Philharmonic as well as the American Composers Forum. He is known throughout Europe as a composer of note. In addition, Mike is a music therapist and educator. He lectured across Germany this past fall teaching collaborative techniques, musical theater writing and film scoring. He was recently invited to lecture an audience of international company owners, consultants, scientists and artists about how to use and understand the creative process in music. He also taught musical theatre writing for music therapists, helping them explore their own stories through composition. He has a number of lectures and premieres lined up in Germany and the United States in the coming year.
Mike’s work is vital and has lasting impact upon all who develop stories with him. He listens keenly, finding connections that are often surprising and delightful.