Cabaret in Captivity at Pangea0

Untitled Theater Company #61 will once again be doing our annual performance of Cabaret in Captivity on Monday, April 9th and Monday April 16th at 7:30 PM, at Pangea (178 Second Avenue, between 11th and 12th St) as part of the National Jewish Theater Foundation's Holocaust Theater International Initiative, Remembrance Day Play Readings. From the UTC#61 website: "Terezin was the final stop for more than 30,000 Central and Western European Jews, most from Czechoslovakia, Austria and Germany who perished within its walls. For thousands more it was only a way station on the journey to the slave-labor and...

Eric at the Greenspace0

Last week I was fortunate enough to join my friend and performer Eric Schmalenberger at 44 Charlton, a new monthly variety show hosted by Julian Fleisher at The Greenspace, here in NYC.  We had a fantastic time - what a great crew.  Here's some video of the performance below: ...

2017...Still Doin' Stuff0

Hey, look at me, updating my website!  I'm not sure people still even use these things, but that's ok.  When the aliens come, at least this blog will forever be a record of how Maria Dessena chose to archive her existence.  So much to learn from us humans! Anyway, lot of exciting things to catch up on from 2016.  I've updated the press page where you can read reviews from Mad Jenny's run at Pangea, and I've also added a new Game Audio page of original compositions I've worked on at High 5 Games for your listening pleasure!...

madjenny.com + Pangea Gigs0

Mad Jenny's website is up, and I'll be joining her along with the Society Band (with Ric Becker on Trombone and Marty Isenberg on upright bass) for a few gigs at Pangea on September 28th and October 26th.  Hopefully you caught a taster at Money Lab back in March, but if not, Jenny's show is an hour of original arrangements (and translations) of pre-war Weimar Cabaret in both German and English.  Plus a few surprises, of course!  We'll also be doing a residency at Dixon Place on Jan. 13th with some special guests, so don't miss that!  ...

Art! Sin! Travel! Decadence!0

Funny how no matter where you travel, you seem to run into the same people with the same stories. Anna and her sister (Anna) travel the states and share their lessons of morality and sin. Meanwhile, Andi and I just need an excuse to sing some Kurt Weill before she takes off to Asia.  We'll be performing selections from Weill's Seven Deadly Sins, mixed with a variety of other European Cabaret songs on the theme of Art! Sin! Travel! and of course, Decadence! With soprano Andriana Smela and myself on piano and accordion.  The live performance will be...

Mad Jenny and the Society Band at Money Lab0

Man, I've really dropped the ball on the whole blogging/website thing.  Never fear!  Here is an exciting update of all things Maria, since that's clearly what we're here for. First and foremost, thrilled to finally share a collaboration that has been long in the making - Jenny Lee Mitchell has put together a beautiful program of traditional German, Czech and English cabaret songs mixed with some cabaret treatments of more modern songs by Mischa Spolianski, Hans Eisler and Kurt Weill among others.  We'll be performing a few of these selections with a small band at Untitled Theater Company...

The Pig1

Just when I was getting into the hibernation thing, theater season started and smacked me in the noggin.  Current project:  the extraordinary multi-media theater piece, The Pig.  I've been assistant m.d.'ing for director Henry Akona the past few weeks, as well as organizing some pre- and post-show music for the event. The Pig itself stars two of my most favorite people, creative power couple Robert Honeywell and Moira Stone, not to mention current collaborator and renaissance woman, Jenny Lee Mitchell.  They sing, dance (and even play clarinet, cymbals and glockenspiel) throughout this mash-up of the Czech operetta, The...

Happy New Year! Here's the gift of Radiohead0

The snow is falling, the temperature is plummeting and I've been slipping into hibernation mode a bit these days. As this year draws to a close and the next begins, I find myself coming back to writing original music for various projects (and for myself as well). Becoming a good arranger is something I've put a lot of energy into lately, but now the pull of new things is too hard to ignore. Plus, people want to pay me for it, so hey! With that in mind, I'd like to share some piano/vocal arrangements I've worked on over...

Cabaret in October0

The past few months, I've learned a lot about Terezín - a ghetto during WWII that held a large number of artists and performers.  In June, I performed in a recital of songs with Jenny Lee Mitchell and Rebecca Joy Fletcher that were written by artists living in Terezín, and some of which were even performed at the camp itself. Sunday, October 20 at 3PM, Jenny and I will be revisiting a few of these songs at the book launch for "Performing Captivity, Performing Escape", by Lisa Peschel.  Edward Einhorn has assembled an amazing cast of actors to...

Accordion Musings1

The majority of my life has been spent not knowing how to play the accordion, and that's a shame.  My desire to learn stemmed from a few things - Weird Al (of course), Kurt Weill, tango, and an overwhelming desire to accompany myself on a portable instrument.  I've had a few friends over the years who played well (and have accomplished a lot on the instrument), so it wasn't a completely crazy idea to pick it up.  I casually mentioned one day to my instrument-enthusiast parents that I was interested, and next thing I knew, they'd purchased one...

Accordions Around the World0

NY1 has a special on the Bryant Park Accordion Festival today!  Tune into NY1 all day to catch me and some other great performers plugging the festival. If you are in the NY area, come catch us every Thursday at Bryant Park all throughout the summer, from 5-7pm.  I'll be playing on: July 4 July 18 August 1 Shoot me some requests!  I'll be playing a bunch of eclectic stuff - 80s hits (Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, The Cure, INXS, Kate Bush, The Police, Talking Heads), a bunch of crazy Led Zepplin covers and of...

Beck's Song Reader at the Brick2

In January, The Brick Theater hosted an event for Beck's Song Reader project, a songbook of original Beck tunes that have been left up to the fans to record and perform. They were kind enough to let me do the number "Eyes That Say 'I Love You'" for vocals and accordion. ...

The Mass Has Ended0

After working on this project for well over a year, I am sad to see Mass end. Opera singers became rock singers, rock musicians became theater musicians, and we all learned a great deal from each other (and hopefully had a blast in the mean time). Thank you, Brick, for putting on fearless, beautiful theater and letting me add my small contribution....