Gary Keenan

Don Ciro (1D)#

Artist’s Statement#

I am a poet and musician. These two art forms have their differences, but they also share common elements: phrasing, tempo, dynamics, tone and rhythm are all features of language and music. Since moving to Colombia in 2024, I have been working with Tunia Teatro and director Phanor Teran on music for various productions, a continuation of my work with theater and dance groups in New York City where I lived for 34 years. This current piece, Don Ciro (1D), is from a score I arranged and composed for Los Desaparecidos, a play by Phanor Teran that has been in development for about two years. I created this music about 15 years ago in New York as a demo for my song Slow Samba, now remixed with ambient sounds and treatments of brass band music recorded in my home in Colombia. The entire work is about 14 minutes long; this four minute excerpt supports a scene in the play’s final act in which two actors struggle to find the remains of a loved one. I play the guitars, keyboard organ and bass with a drum loop. I have performed the song with my band American String Conspiracy in New York and plan to do so again in a show in Colombia later in the summer.

About the Artist#

Gary Keenan is a poet and musician living in Tunia, Cauca, a village in the Colombian Andes. His poems have been published in journals in the United States, Ireland, England, Denmark, Germany, India, and Australia since 1979. His book Rotary Devotion (Fordham University Press) won the 2016 Poets Out Loud Award. With guitarist Shu Nakamurae, he founded the musical ensemble American String Conspiracy in 2003, performing in the United States and Colombia. The band’s album Help the Poor (4th Avenue Records) is available on iTunes. Keenan has also composed and arranged music for plays with theater groups in New York City and Tunia, Colombia.

Find more of his music at revberbnation.com/americanstringconspiracy.