Occasional Evenings: Lucy Dhegrae—Music and Trauma

In 2013, acclaimed mezzo-soprano Lucy Dhegrae lost her voice. Clinically diagnosed with paresis, she quickly came to understand its cause: the long-buried trauma of a sexual assault. But what trauma and its repression took away, Dhegrae restored—gradually, painfully—by psychotherapy, physical therapy, and finally, music-making and performance. How can we understand the interrelationship—the push-pull—between trauma, body, psyche, and sound? In the face of traumatic experience, can art help make us whole?

Join us Wednesday, April 26th, for the latest in our Occasional Evenings series: Lucy Dhegrae, in performance and conversation. Exploring the intersection between experience, language, and sound, Lucy will perform a dithyramb—the ancient, frenetic Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of the god Dionysus—as well as selections from her acclaimed Processing Series. Between performances, Lucy will sit down with BISR faculty Paige Sweet to discuss the experience of vocal loss, her search for a cause, the physical and emotional processes of healing, and the use of sound and music to both represent trauma and ameliorate the damage it inflicts. How can we understand the difference between language and music, words and sounds? What in the psyche is non-verbal? And, where exactly does psychic change takes place—in language; or through it, but beyond it? 

Beer, wine, seltzer, and snacks will be served. Attendance is free (with $10 suggested donation). Doors open at 6:45; the event begins at 7pm. The event will stream live to the BISR Facebook page. Please RSVP below.

Event Schedule

Wednesday, 7:00pm ET
April 26, 2023

$0.00

Event is over. Check out our upcoming events.