September 17, 2002

Contact:

Sarah Ray

802-443-5794

sray@middlebury.edu

Posted: September 17, 2002

MIDDLEBURY,

VT- Rinde Eckert is an artist whose talents surpass labels, categories

or common two-dimensional descriptions. Simultaneously a singer, musician,

dancer, actor, director, writer and storyteller, Eckert will share his

unique style and art form at 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 27, at Middlebury

College’s Wright Theatre, located on Château Road off College Street

(Route 125).

Eckert, who has previously

performed at Middlebury College, will present “An Idiot Divine,”

a combination of two of his original solo pieces: “The Idiot Variations”

and “Dry Land Divine.”

Tall, bald and broad-shouldered,

Eckert poses a powerful stage presence. He describes his work as “fiercely

interdisciplinary.” The tools of his performance art are his unique

tenor-countertenor voice combined with skillful movement, a variety of

instruments-trombone, accordion, harmonica, percussion and keyboard-and

his original writings.

According to The New York

Times, who compared him to Bertolt Brecht, Samuel Beckett, Tom Waits and

Laurie Anderson, “Eckert is an instinctive showman who preens his

considerable skills with contagious enjoyment.”

The San Francisco Chronicle

declared, “In a world of cookie-cutter entertainers, this charismatic

one-man band looks and sounds like no one else.”

Eckert’s range dazzles audiences

and critics alike. “A powerful singer, Eckert is also an extraordinary

physical actor, an ingenious mime and a brilliant impersonator,”

wrote the San Antonio Express News.

Eckert’s other projects

include music concerts and tours through Europe and the United States

with the Stimmen-World Voices Festival. He has directed “Wenji,”

the one-act chamber opera based on the true story of Cai Wenji, a Chinese

woman scholar and musician who lived during the second century A.D. He

has collaborated with the Paul Dresher Electro-Acoustic Band, the Margaret

Jenkins Dance Company, videographer John Sanborn, and sound designer Jay

Cloidt. Several CDs of his eclectic music are available on the German

label Intuition. He lives in New York and California.

Eckert’s performance is

sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Tickets are

$10 for general admission and $8 for seniors. For tickets, call the College

Box Office at 802-443-6433.