Death of the Pugilist

A BenFeng Music Production

Sunday, November 3
2:00 PM

Prepare to be transported to the gritty underbelly of 1820s England in BenFeng Music Production's Death of The Pugilist. Based on contemporary American novelist Daniel Mason’s powerful short story, Death of the Pugilist embodies everything exceptional about a BenFeng Music Production: free-spirited, expressive, and transformative.

Set on the quayside docks amid the squalor of working-class life in 1820s England, the narrative follows a young man as he comes of age in a rough-and-tumble profession, with music weaving the rich layers of emotional tapestry and humanity.

Drawing from the musical elements of contrapuntal Bach, minimalistic Philip Glass, blues and Irish folk music, the production creates a deeply moving and truly unique experience of story and music.

The talented ensemble features narrator Jem Moore, alongside four exceptional and award-winning musicians: MinTze Wu, Eric Thorin, Joy Adams, and Blayne Chastain. Costume Design by Bineke Kiernan and Lighting Design by Sean Jeffries.

Death of the Pugilist premiered in the summer of 2008 at Gros Morne Summer Music in Newfoundland, broadcast live by CBC Radio 2. The author Daniel Mason called the piece "absolutely beautiful and so stunningly paced with the story." The production made its US premiere at the Sounds of Lyons Music Festival in 2009, and was re-envisioned with the current ensemble in 2021 as part of the inaugural Garden Music Series in Carbondale, Colorado.