ABOUT MMN

Marianna Mott Newirth is an interdisciplinary artist based in New York City. She writes libretti, plays, creates book art and produces opera. She also plays cello (badly) and from time to time spends a week or so learning how to paint. Throughout, her aim is to create stories exploring the human condition in all its complexity. As a humanist, she's guided by a Jewish moral compass that she calibrates often - especially in these stressful times. Life is a banquet of opportunities to make connections and look for inner truths. As a playwright/librettist/book artist she finds and shape stories; as a producer she brings those stories to life.
 
"As a word-person in a musician’s world, I have a synesthetic understanding of what I think music is saying. Letters and words dance, connect, contract and extend for me in the development of a lyrical work. ​My creative process typically begins with book art; making a hand-bound book helps me realize the ineffable in a tactile way and lets me shape it into physical form. Once a book is created I apply words and images to tell the story wanting to be told. This brings in collaborators, those who resonate around the theme at hand. I work to cultivate an open, collaborative environment trusting the work that emerges between us. Opera is an inherently collaborative art form and requires respectful attention. I draw creativity from every-day situations, gain strength in connecting with others and always work to manifest ideas into action through authentic communication. I strive to generate an empowering context for life, art and work. Sometimes I fail, and I try again. At the end of all things what will matter most to me is that we will get to stand together and say; 'We had each other.'"

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Marianna lives and travels with husband, photographer Scott Newirth, Their two sons, raised in NYC, are grown and working in the civic sector as Public Librarian and Public High School History Teacher.