Paul Festa
Encyclopedia
Paul Festahttp://www.paulfesta.com is a San Francisco-based writer, filmmaker and violinist. He was born and raised in San Francisco where he currently lives with his husband James Harker.
, Nerve (website)
, Salon.com
, Nerve: The First Ten Years http://www.nerve.com/the-first-ten-years/, and three editions of the Cleis Press
's annual Best Sex Writing anthology (2008 http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sex-Writing-2008/dp/1573443026, 2006 http://www.amazon.com/dp/1573442372/ and 2005 http://www.amazon.com/dp/1573442178/). His essays, fiction and journalism have won numerous awards http://paulfesta.com/writing/CV.htm.
, filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell
, Scissor Sisters
singer Ana Matronic
, novelist Daniel Handler
(a.k.a. Lemony Snicket
), and drag performers Justin Bond
(Kiki & Herb) and Jackie Beat
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0810758/fullcredits#cast, to the music of Olivier Messiaen
. It won awards at several film festivals.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0810758/awards
Festa stars in his second film, "The Glitter Emergency,"http://www.theglitteremergency.com (2010, 20 minutes) with members of the San Francisco Ballet
and the Cockettes, opposite the Trannyshack
performer Peggy L'Eggs (Matthew Simmons). The silent-film comedy is set to the second half of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, which Festa plays in the film.
Festa wrote, produced and edited, with director Austin Forbord, Stage Left: A Story of Theater in San Franciscohttp://krfoundation.org/stage-left/ (2010, 80 minutes), a documentary about the growth of theater in San Francisco from the Actor's Workshop in the 1950s through the present day. The film features Robin Williams
, Oskar Eustis
, Bill Irwin
, and Peter Coyote
, and is narrated by Marga Gomez
.
Young Musicians Award, toured Scandinavia as soloist with the California Youth Symphony, studied violin at the Juilliard School
from 1990 to 1993, and performed in New York with Albert Fuller
's http://albertfuller.blogspot.com Helicon Ensemble http://www.paulfesta.com/music/musicCV.htm. Fourteen years after a repetitive strain injury curtailed his musical career, Festa resumed public performances in 2007 as both violinist and actor with the Stephen Pelton Dance Theater http://www.stephenpeltondance.org/ in San Francisco, and the North Bay Shakespeare Company http://www.nbshakes.org/ in Novato, California http://www.pacificsun.com/morguepdf/2007/2007_09_07.pac.section2.pdf. At the Boston University Messiaen Project http://oliviermessiaen.net/ conference "Messiaen the Theologian," in October 2007, Festa and pianist Luke Berryman gave the U.S. premiere http://www.bu.edu/cfa/music/resources/CalendarMakerBU2007-08.htm of Messiaen's recently discovered 1933 Fantaisie for violin and piano (List of compositions by Olivier Messiaen). He gave the New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles premieres http://www.paulfesta.com/Grace.htm before giving, in October 2008 with pianist Jerome Lowenthal
, the Washington, D.C., premiere at the Library of Congress
playing the Betts Stradivarius
.
(2006)http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367027/fullcredits#cast.
Writing
Festa's essays have appeared in The Daily BeastThe Daily Beast
The Daily Beast is an American news reporting and opinion website founded and published by Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker as well as the short-lived Talk Magazine. The Daily Beast was launched on October 6, 2008, and is owned by IAC...
, Nerve (website)
Nerve (website)
Nerve is an American online magazine dedicated to sex, relationships and culture. Founded by Rufus Griscom and Genevieve Field, it publishes articles and photography. It also hosts blogs, forums, and a section for personal advertisements. Nerve's CEO is Sean Mills...
, Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, Nerve: The First Ten Years http://www.nerve.com/the-first-ten-years/, and three editions of the Cleis Press
Cleis Press
Cleis Press is an independent publisher of books in the areas of sexuality, erotica, feminism, gay and lesbian studies, gender studies, fiction, and human rights. The press was founded in 1980 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, later moved to San Francisco, and is now based out of Berkeley, CA...
's annual Best Sex Writing anthology (2008 http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sex-Writing-2008/dp/1573443026, 2006 http://www.amazon.com/dp/1573442372/ and 2005 http://www.amazon.com/dp/1573442178/). His essays, fiction and journalism have won numerous awards http://paulfesta.com/writing/CV.htm.
Film
His widely acclaimedhttp://www.apparitionfilm.com/praise.htm first film Apparition of the Eternal Churchhttp://www.apparitionfilm.com (2006, 51 minutes) is about the response of 31 artists and writers, including literary critic Harold BloomHarold Bloom
Harold Bloom is an American writer and literary critic, and is Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. He is known for his defense of 19th-century Romantic poets, his unique and controversial theories of poetic influence, and his prodigious literary output, particularly for a literary...
, filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell is an American writer, actor, and director. He is best known for his motion pictures Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus and Rabbit Hole.- Early life:...
, Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters are an American band "spawned by the scuzzy, gay nightlife scene of New York" who took their name from a sexual position between two women also known as tribadism...
singer Ana Matronic
Ana Matronic
Ana Matronic is the female lead singer for the Scissor Sisters.Her stage name is said to be due to "a deep and abiding love of robots"...
, novelist Daniel Handler
Daniel Handler
Daniel Handler is an American author, screenwriter and accordionist. He is best known for his work under the pen name Lemony Snicket.-Personal life:...
(a.k.a. Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American novelist Daniel Handler . Snicket is the author of several children's books, serving as the narrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events and appearing as a character within the series. Because of this, the name Lemony Snicket may refer to both a fictional...
), and drag performers Justin Bond
Justin Bond
Justin Vivian Bond , formerly simply Justin Bond, is an American singer-songwriter, performance artist, occasional actor and Radical Faerie. Described as a "fixture of the New York avant-garde", Bond arose to notability playing the role of Kiki DuRayne in the drag cabaret act Kiki and Herb from the...
(Kiki & Herb) and Jackie Beat
Jackie Beat
Jackie Beat is the drag persona of actor, singer, songwriter and screenwriter Kent Fuher. Beat has appeared in a number of independent feature films both in and out of drag, including Wigstock: The Movie, Flawless and Adam & Steve...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0810758/fullcredits#cast, to the music of Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
. It won awards at several film festivals.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0810758/awards
Festa stars in his second film, "The Glitter Emergency,"http://www.theglitteremergency.com (2010, 20 minutes) with members of the San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet
The San Francisco Ballet is a ballet company, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. SFB is the first professional ballet company in the United States...
and the Cockettes, opposite the Trannyshack
Trannyshack
Trannyshack is a monthly drag club taking place at DNA Lounge in San Francisco. It was started by drag queen Heklina in 1996 as an offshoot of Klubstitute, and was a weekly fixture at The Stud bar in San Francisco for 12 years, drawing large crowds on a regular basis...
performer Peggy L'Eggs (Matthew Simmons). The silent-film comedy is set to the second half of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, which Festa plays in the film.
Festa wrote, produced and edited, with director Austin Forbord, Stage Left: A Story of Theater in San Franciscohttp://krfoundation.org/stage-left/ (2010, 80 minutes), a documentary about the growth of theater in San Francisco from the Actor's Workshop in the 1950s through the present day. The film features Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
, Oskar Eustis
Oskar Eustis
Oskar Eustis is the artistic director at the Public Theater and has worked as a director, dramaturg, and artistic director for theaters around the country.-Career:...
, Bill Irwin
Bill Irwin
William Mills "Bill" Irwin is an American actor and clown noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. He is known for his vaudeville-style stage acts, but has made a number of appearances on film and television and won a Tony Award for a dramatic role on...
, and Peter Coyote
Peter Coyote
Peter Coyote is an American actor, author, director, screenwriter and narrator of films, theatre, television and audio books. His voice work includes narrating the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics and Apple's iPad campaign. He has also served as on-camera co-host of the 2000 Oscar...
, and is narrated by Marga Gomez
Marga Gomez
Marga Gomez is a Puerto Rican/Cuban-American comedian, playwright, and humorist. She is openly lesbian....
.
Music
As a violinist, Festa won the San Francisco SymphonySan Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization...
Young Musicians Award, toured Scandinavia as soloist with the California Youth Symphony, studied violin at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
from 1990 to 1993, and performed in New York with Albert Fuller
Albert Fuller
Albert Fuller was an American harpsichordist, conductor, teacher, impresario, and prominent proponent of early music. He was the first artist to record the complete keyboard works of Jean-Philippe Rameau....
's http://albertfuller.blogspot.com Helicon Ensemble http://www.paulfesta.com/music/musicCV.htm. Fourteen years after a repetitive strain injury curtailed his musical career, Festa resumed public performances in 2007 as both violinist and actor with the Stephen Pelton Dance Theater http://www.stephenpeltondance.org/ in San Francisco, and the North Bay Shakespeare Company http://www.nbshakes.org/ in Novato, California http://www.pacificsun.com/morguepdf/2007/2007_09_07.pac.section2.pdf. At the Boston University Messiaen Project http://oliviermessiaen.net/ conference "Messiaen the Theologian," in October 2007, Festa and pianist Luke Berryman gave the U.S. premiere http://www.bu.edu/cfa/music/resources/CalendarMakerBU2007-08.htm of Messiaen's recently discovered 1933 Fantaisie for violin and piano (List of compositions by Olivier Messiaen). He gave the New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles premieres http://www.paulfesta.com/Grace.htm before giving, in October 2008 with pianist Jerome Lowenthal
Jerome Lowenthal
Jerome Lowenthal is an American classical pianist. He is a professor of piano at the Juilliard School in New York, where he was also chair of the piano department. Additionally, Lowenthal is on the faculty at Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California.He made his debut at 13 with the...
, the Washington, D.C., premiere at the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
playing the Betts Stradivarius
Betts Stradivarius
The Betts Stradivarius is an antique violin made in 1704 by the Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona. It is one of only 700 known extant Stradivari instruments....
.
Film appearances
Festa appears briefly in the films Act of Violence (1979)http://imdb.com/title/tt0078731/, Filthy Gorgeous: The Trannyshack Story (2005)http://imdb.com/title/tt0468563/ and ShortbusShortbus
Shortbus is a 2006 comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell. The plot revolves around a sexually diverse ensemble of colorful characters trying desperately to connect in New York City. The characters converge in a weekly Brooklyn artistic/sexual salon loosely inspired by...
(2006)http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367027/fullcredits#cast.