Way back in the olden days, eleven whole years ago, I premiered several segments from my 80-minute
performance piece (the music is available on the CD of the same name), Lessons From Vinegar Mother
at the Electro-Music festival in Asheville, North Carolina. The video segments of the performance,
shot here and in New York City, were somewhat lost since that time (particularly because they were
shot – not my me – but by others in the audience), but they’ve miraculously resurfaced. So, here’s
the first one.
Points On Jazz has its origins in 1958, when Dave Brubeck was on tour in Poland. Its primary melody
was conceived as a way of thanking his audiences for their kind reception. It’s title was “Dziekuye,”
the Polish word for “Thank you.” After hearing the piece on Brubeck’s album, choregrapher, Dania Krupska,
sought permission to use the music for a new jazz ballet. The piece was eventually commissioned by the
American Ballet Theatre.
Nineteen months after the project’s inception in June of 2022, Sandra Shaw Murphy and I have
successfully completed the unearthing, compiling, organizing, cataloging, archiving and digitization
of the vast Juliet Shaw Collection. Of course, the “jewel in the crown” of the collection is Juliet’s
theremin – built specifically for her by the instrument’s inventor, Lev Termen (Leon Theremin).
But for Sandra’s generosity and determination, Juliet might have been totally forgotten. She spent countless
hours combing through the family home to find objects and items she remembered, but also discovering a
vast wealth of materials and artifacts that even she herself never knew existed.
From the outset, in addition to the goal of preserving her mother’s legacy, Juliet’s daughter Sandra was
determined that everyone be able to discover Juliet for themselves. Toward that end, we produced a web site
that was initially utilized for a fundraising campaign intended to cover the expenses for goods and services
that I was unable to provide on my own. Now that the fundraising phase is over, we’ve retooled the site to
function as a means by which thereminists, theremin enthusiasts, electro-musicians (and everyone else for that
matter) can explore Juliet Shaw’s life and career.
Although the items on the site represent less than 100th of the entire archived collection, they, combined with
the text content, are a wonderful way to see, hear and learn about Juliet Shaw. With the advent of the Juliet
Shaw collection and the Legacy Project web site, Juliet’s well-earned place in the theremin’s history is incontro-
vertible. It is a testament to her extraordinary ability, her 55-year performance career, her massive recorded
output, her charitable concerts that raised tens of thousands of dollars for worthy causes, her tireless dedication
to her students and her devotion to her school of music as both a teaching institution as well as a venue for
concerts and other events. She is among just a handful of musicians who, along with Leon Theremin himself,
can truly be counted as one of the first generation of thereminists.
Although it was created four years ago, it’s barely been seen. Now that missions to, and eventual human
habitation on Mars continue to inspire and fascinate, let’s revisit this fantasy…
Original composition until the aviary is open, then the music “montage” is comprised only of snippets of
jazz, classical and popular music about birds. How many can you recognize?
The October 15th concert to honor Juliet Shaw featured her own theremin, custom-built for her by the
instrument’s inventor himself, Lev Termen (Leon Theremin). Since Juliet Shaw’s theremin still works,
it on display during the concert and I used it to play Londonderry Air (aka Danny Boy), a song requested
by her daughter, Sandra Shaw Murphy. Juliet herself can be heard playing the song on Track 8 of Music in
the Air – The Artistry of Thereminist Juliet Shaw, Volume 1.
Following her very fist performance at Yale University somewhere between 1936 and 1937, she learned that
Theremin lived in New York City. With her own RCA Theremin in tow, she was able to meet him at his
apartments on West 53rd St. (an event she describes in several handwritten accounts as well as in recordings
of some of her live concert performances). Theremin was so impressed with herself-taught virtuosity that he
offered to trade her RCA, with it’s range of two and a half octaves, for a custom built instrument that would
have a range of six and one half octaves. She continued to perform on that instrument for the rest of her life.
On October 15th, 2023, a live Concert was given at the Silvermine School of Music to honor the
artistry of first generation thereminist/concert pianist/teacher, Juliet Shaw. The concert was the
culmination of The Juliet Shaw Legacy Project, begun in June of 2022 by myself, and Sandra Shaw
Murphy, the daughter of Juliet Shaw. Two marvelous pianists, Peter and Marianne Lauffer, and myself
presented a full program of both classical music, jazz, and occasional mischief. This excerpt from the
concert, a perfomance of Saint Saens’s Le Cynge (The Swan) includes a bit of mischief. Video of the
complete concert is currently in the works.
For more information about the Juliet Shaw Legacy Project, please visit: www.jshawlegacy.com
The extensive work undertaken for the Juliet Shaw Legacy Project has put quite a hold
on creating new theremin videos. So, for our dining and dancing pleasure, here’s a
reprise of the first video I made using the Moog Claravox…
For all thereminists, theremin enthusiasts, electro-musicians and electronic music lovers. The Juliet Shaw Legacy Project’s two primary goals are:
1) Compile, archive and preserve the vast collection of music and materials that document the 50+
year career of thereminist, concert pianist and teacher, Juliet Shaw.
2) Find a permanent home for the entire Juliet Shaw Legacy Collection, an instutition that will house
and preserve it.
Juliet Shaw’s life and career were almost totally forgotten until Sandra Shaw Murphy, Juliet’s daughter,
unearthed an astonishing amount of her mother’s collected materials. There are dozens of hours of
recorded music, hundreds of photos, articles, concert programs, handwritten lectures, correspondence
and more.
Your donation counts! All proceeds go directly to the preservation and archiving everything in the
collection, as well as covering the fees for professional mastering of Juliet Shaw’s recordings.
No donation is too small, however, anyone donating $20 or more will receive volume one of Music in the Air – The Artistry of Thereminist, Juliet Shaw. With theremin performances dating back as
far as 80 years, this is the first collection of Juliet Shaw’s music ever to be released.
