ArtistInfo

Cynthia Hopkins

voc, acc,
Composer

Cynthia Hopkins is a writer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and internationally acclaimed musical performance artist: she writes and sings songs, records albums, and creates groundbreaking multi-media performance works that intertwine truth and fiction, blurring the lines between edification and entertainment. Through the process of making performances, she attempts to alchemize disturbance into works of intrigue and hope that simultaneously stimulate the senses, provoke emotion, and enliven the mind. She is dedicated to creating groundbreaking original works that investigate innovative forms of communication, melding music, text, technical and theatrical design, and video with unbelievable fact and outrageous fiction. Her mission is to obscure the distinction between edification and entertainment through the creation of works that are as philosophical as they are entertaining, as intellectually challenging as they are viscerally emotional, as deeply comical as they are tragic, and as historically aware as they are immediately engaging. She has produced eight musical performance works, eight albums of original music, and one museum installation. Her work has been honored with many awards, including a 2015 Doris Duke Artist Award, a 2015 Grants to Artists Award from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, a 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship, and the 2007 Alpert Award in Theater. She most recently premiered Articles of Faith (a collaboration with video artist Jeff Sugg) at The Kitchen in NYC. Ms. Hopkins is currently at work on The Thrashers (an experiment about which very little is presently known) while continuing to work as a performer, composer, voice over artist, and musician for many other folks. In addition to creating multi-media performance works, Ms. Hopkins also produces concerts and albums of music. She formed a band called Gloria Deluxe in 1999 that featured a revolving cast of musicians, performing hundreds of concerts and releasing five full length albums. During its ten year existence (from 1999 until 2009) Gloria Deluxe developed an enthusiastic following for its unique blend of folk, cabaret, rock, blues, and country music, opening for legendary artists including David Byrne and Patti Smith. In addition to Gloria Deluxe albums, Ms. Hopkins has also released three full length albums of music under her own name. In addition to albums produced under the names Gloria Deluxe and Cynthia Hopkins (all of which are available on iTunes) Ms. Hopkins has also released many individual songs online, available for free download, on SoundCloud.

Instruments

• Vocals
• Accordion
• Guitar
• Piano
• Electric guitar

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