Sacred Nine Project: Foster’s Foils
testing and touting a legacy on ‘hard times’
Wednesday, 22 October 2025, The Woods House, Pittsburgh, PA

I am creating an innovative concert to commemorate Stephen Foster’s 200th birth year. It will be held in the famous The Woods House, where Foster was a frequent guest, and where he met the eponymous “Nelly Bly” (really Nellie Brown).

Arguably Foster’s name is first when identifying the giants of 19th century American popular song; in fact, he is known (rightly or wrongly) as the Father of American Music. However, his legacy is more fraught than ever. Today, one cannot celebrate him without providing an airtight buffer of context, and even then, the word “celebrate” could not be used in good faith. His shimmer is obscured by the shadows he cast; his splash is upstaged by his ripples. Further, it can be argued that Foster is an antihero, and that his canonization was rigged by decade after decade of mystique nourished by spin doctors and fake news. I believe I have found a responsible way to celebrate his music while still holding him accountable for his poor decisions and rather callous and opportunistic career.

I propose an innovative look at a “legacy on ‘hard times,’” presided over by the omniscient presence of Nellie Brown herself. In this experience, sets of music and narration will surround Foster with people, concepts, and entities that bring out the nuance of his life and output. Never has it been more important to frame the legacy of Stephen Foster in a mindfully, and I believe this project will accomplish that in a trail-blazing way. This program has required years of study and research.