Irish musical sensation Duke Special collaborated with Spectrum at The Metropolitan Museum of Art to write all new songs inspired by photographs from the exhibition Stieglitz, Steichen, Strand, on view from November 10, 2010, through April 10, 2011.
Duke Special was accompanied by members of the Orchestre de Chambre Miniature—a string quartet founded by violinist Olivier Manchon of the popular indie band Clare and the Reasons.
Duke Special has had a dynamic and ambitious career since he went solo in 2002. He has released six albums since 2005, among them Songs from the Deep Forest (2006), which achieved platinum status in Ireland. He continues to perform sold-out shows across Ireland, the UK, and Europe, has opened for artists such as Van Morrison and Snow Patrol, and has an impressive CV of creative projects. In 2008, Duke performed with the sixty-piece RTÉ Symphony Orchestra in Dublin's National Concert Hall, and in 2009, he wrote the music for and starred in a production of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children at the Royal National Theater in London.
59 Productions—a London-based stage design company whose work includes the projection and extraordinary new animation design of War Horse (both the West End and Broadway productions), Jónsi concerts, and productions at the Metropolitan Opera, English National Opera, and Royal Opera House—created projections incorporating video and photographs from the exhibition for this performance.
