Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

ELLNORA: The Goddess with live music by the Leni Stern Quartet

Saturday, September 12, 2009, at 8:30pm | Amphitheatre

ELLNORA | The Guitar Festival | “Free of moralism and melodrama, expressively composed and lit and very naturalistically acted, this is a film of startling modernity” (TimeOut London). Released in 1934 at the height of Shanghai’s golden age of cinema, The Goddess reveals the dual life of its unnamed central character, who acts as both a protective goddess to her son and a shennü, which roughly translates as “goddess” but is also a euphemism for a prostitute. In an attempt to provide an adequate education for her child, she turns to the only source of income she can find and faces violence, shame, and society’s judgment. Directed by Wu Yonggang and starring the luminous superstar Ruan Lingyu, this stark story examines social issues that remain relevant 75 years later.

With her own artistry of “haunting power” and songs like “beautifully drawn vignettes,” Leni Stern was the undeniable choice to musically express this film’s themes (Washington Post). Stern left an acting career in Germany to become part of the late-night New York jazz-fusion scene of the 1970s. But that was only her first reincarnation—Stern’s journeys have taken her around the world, through singing and songwriting collaborations with innovators like Zakir Hussain and Bill Frisell, and ultimately to Africa, where she blends her “shimmering guitar work and an indigenous brew of vocal harmonies, blues bends and percolating beats” for music that unites “seeking and solace” (Down Beat). In her latest passion-evident incarnation, she’s become “one of the world’s most fully realized songwriters and guitarists” (LA Weekly).

Score commissioned by the New York Guitar Festival

Go to the official ELLNORA web site
Corporate Power Train Engine:
Eastland Suites Hotel and Conference Center
Scanics

Corporate Power Train Sponsors:
WCIA 3
JSM Development

Patron Sponsor:
Anonymous

Corporate Gold Sponsor:
One Main Development

Patron Co-sponsors:
Frances and Marc Ansel
Jean Huddleston, Kelly Foster, and Paul Foster
A. Mark Neuman
Mary and George Perlstein
Carol and Ed Scharlau

Corporate Silver Sponsors:
Chief/Bauer Heating & Air Conditioning
Dean’s Graphic Division
Hendrick House
The Blind Man Hunter Douglas Gallery

Corporate Bronze Sponsors:
Bacca Cigar Company
Barham Benefit Group
Fluid Events LLC
Precision Graphics
Jeffrey Van Buren, Senior Vice President-Investments of Wells Fargo Advisors LLC, and Valerie Van Buren

Regional Grant:
Arts Midwest

Additional Support: Fluid Events, LLC