Deborah Johnson

Bonnie ‘Prince” Billy: “Life is Scary (Horses)” Link to YouTube / full screen in bio Please watch large and loud over there Full credits at YouTube link Director: Braden King | @truckstop Co-Conspirator: Hillary Fyfe Spera | @hillaryspera Production Company: Truckstop // Cinematographer: Eric Lin | @holdtheframe Additional Cinematography: Blake Johnson | @slake856 Light Magick: Deborah Johnson | Candystations | @candystations Virtual Production: NYU Tandon @ The Yard | @nyutandon Thanks to the Integrated Design and Media Program at NYU Tandon School of Engineering | @idmnyu Luke DuBois - Director of Research, Integrated Design and Media | @rlukedubois Todd Bryant - Special Effects Supervisor | @todernst Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy Performance Video: Will Oldham | @wignifier Sally Timms Performance Video: Bloo Van Alst | @bluevanalst Editor: Laura Israel | @dontblinkrobertfrank Assistant Editor: Alex Riccio | @alexriccio17 Color by Company 3 | @company_3 Colorist: Tim Mascik | @timmasick Cameras and Lenses provided by Panavision | @panavisionofficial Additional camera body provided by Picture Theory Additional lenses provided by TCS | @tcsfilm Shot on Location at Middlegate Station, Fallon, NV and on Highway 50, America’s Loneliest Road #middlegatestation Thanks to Cheyenne and Travis Anderton, Derrick Chiaratti and Wyatt Clark for their generous hospitality. Special Thanks: Jason Goldman, Carly Hugo, Paul de Jong, Joseph Krings, Andy Lilien, Wes Morin, Will Oldham, Matt Parker, Mike Quinn, Scott Soens, Hillary Fyfe Spera and Chris Wiezorek. From No Quarter Records: “Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy (@wignifier ) – the persona / stage-name of musician Will Oldham - will release his new studio record, “We Are Together Again”, on Friday, March 6th, 2026. This song – which Oldham describes as a “spiritual cover” of the Sally Timms / Jon Langford composition “Horses” - features Timms, (#sallytimms) on the track and in the video. King also directed the video for Oldham’s 2004 cover of “Horses” (from the album Greatest Palace Music).” @noquarterrex @dominorecordco

Composer 👸 @sarahkirklandsnider and I recently premiered EYE OF MNEMOSYNE, a 23’, seven-movement multimedia orchestral work commissioned by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for its centennial season. The piece presents memory embodied as a deity while illuminating the influence of George Eastman’s Kodak through a lens of nostalgia.  The Kodak Girls — the independent, stylish, and sophisticated women conceived to evolve with and proliferate Eastman’s cameras — are presented as descendants of Mnemosyne, muses who influenced and inspired how Americans began to arrange, capture, and experience moments of their lives using the instrument of the camera and the power of the snapshot.  This visual and documentation are from the final movement, Psyche. Here, the Kodak Muses return to their celestial mother source after their journey throughout the narrative, from birth to the horrors of World War I.  The projections were mapped to the architecture of the Eastman Theatre — paying further homage to its founder and legacy.  Special thanks to @defaulteric for mapping prowess and @louiselessel for Touch Designer ✨ . . . . . #contemporaryclassical #composer #contemporarycomposer #femalecomposer #womencomposers #orchestra #orchestralmusic #multimedia #multimediaorchestra #composerlife #womeninmusic #videoart #video #composersofinstagram #femaleartist #womenartists #musiccomposition #newmusic #rochesterphilharmonic #kodakgirls #georgeeastman #kodak #deborahjohnson #sarahkirklandsnider #eyeofmnemosyne #visuallibretto #livevisuals #performancedesign #touchdesigner #c4dart

Feeling nostalgic for the days of Adz. The uniting of many singular artists in their #topform for the performance of an apocalyptic space rock opera, written by Sufjan Stevens in the spirit of artist and self-proclaimed prophet Royal Robertson. This here is a teaser/trailer for the final journey @bricbrooklyn ’s iconic bandshell. Forever my north ⭐️. #gravestoneproject #perfectenschlag 👽 🌋 — Creative Director: @sufjan Visual/Projection Design: me with support as ever from @brianchasalow and @vade001 Lighting Design: @benstanton_official Set Design: @adrianjonesdesign Technical Director: @videodesignernyc Production Manager: @theartcounsel — #livevisuals #projectionmapping #concertdesign #liveperformance #vdmx #projectiondesign #stagedesign #ageofadz #unity #qtz #vj #royalrobertson #sufjanstevens #deborahjohnson #candystations

👁️ Further celebrating the recent release of my new orchestral album FORWARD INTO LIGHT with this clip from Deborah Johnson’s film for our multimedia work ‘Eye of Mnemosyne,’ which explores memory, innovation, and culture as refracted through the lens of photography. VIII. Psyche (Epilogue): “Lens of Nostalgia” The narrative concludes by returning to the lens of Mnemosyne and the gift of memory. The Kodak Girls, as muses of the personal and collective past, return to their source, longing for a still more eternal way to preserve memory and history. Special shout to the amazing Chris Coletti (@trumpeterchris ) on trumpet! Visual Art Credit: @candystations in collaboration with @louiselessel FORWARD INTO LIGHT, featuring Metropolis Ensemble and conducted by Andrew Cyr, produced by Grammy-winning engineer Silas Brown, is out now on @nonesuchrecords Nonesuch and @newamrecords . Link in bio for more info! ✨

In a little over a week, my all-orchestral album FORWARD INTO LIGHT, featuring Metropolis Ensemble and conducted by Andrew Cyr, produced by Grammy-winning engineers Silas Brown and Mike Tierney, will be co-released by Nonesuch Records and New Amsterdam Records. ✨✨ Here’s a clip from Deborah Johnson’s stunning film for our multimedia work Eye of Mnemosyne, which explores the intersection of memory, innovation, and cultural transformation. Drawing on the myth of Mnemosyne, the Greek Goddess of Memory, the piece pays particular homage to the Kodak Girls — Mnemosyne’s muses, as it were — sophisticated, independent figures who symbolized modernity and creativity during photography’s golden age. VI. Nostos: “War Story”During World War I, photography bridged the emotional distance between home and the front lines. The Kodak Girls symbolize resilience and nostalgia, their images offering a sense of stability amidst upheaval while preserving the stories of those lost to war. Visual Art Credit: @candystations in collaboration with @louiselessel Forward Into Light releases on February 27th. Pre-order is available now through the link in my bio. 🌱

In a little over two weeks, my all-orchestral album FORWARD INTO LIGHT, featuring Metropolis Ensemble and conducted by Andrew Cyr, produced by Grammy-winning engineers Silas Brown and Mike Tierney, will be co-released by Nonesuch Records and New Amsterdam Records. ✨ Here’s a clip from Deborah Johnson’s film for our multimedia work ‘Eye of Mnemosyne,’ which explores the intersection of memory, innovation, and cultural transformation. Drawing on the myth of Mnemosyne, the Greek Goddess of Memory, the piece pays particular homage to the Kodak Girls — Mnemosyne’s muses, as it were — sophisticated, independent figures who symbolized modernity and creativity during photography’s golden age. IV. Vivere: “Power of the Snapshot” Photography becomes a tool of liberation with the invention of Kodak’s portable cameras and endless exposure. The Kodak Girls, now independent and adventurous, embody the spontaneity and accessibility of the snapshot, reflecting America’s spirit of innovation and progress. FORWARD INTO LIGHT releases on February 27th. Pre-order is available now through the link in my bio. 🌱

Sandbox Percussion’s ‘Canto Ostinato’ is a 75+ minute, evolving, audio-responsive @touchdesigner composition created by @candystations and @louiselessel . It is an homage to the visual music canon, honoring the revolving, open structure of Simeon ten Holt’s singular work through light, shadow, and instrumental architecture. Canto Ostinato radiates warmth, spaciousness and luminosity. Built on chiming pulses and expansive harmonic shifts, the graphic score braids freedom within an undulating grid, inviting each performer’s interpretation within a shared framework and collective meditation. The visual system unfolds in a cyclical arc, expanding and contracting over time through phases of density and minimalism, symmetry and unhinge through repetition, variation, and evolution over duration. The graphic universe is drawn directly from the instruments themselves: the sol of the mallet, the sweep of the marimba, the beams of bars and resonant surfaces, transforming them into living graphic notation. Performers’ shadows and audio-responsive light are integral to the composition, alternating and evolving alongside the sound. Canto Ostinato premiered at Lincoln Center in June 2025 for @runningamoc and will tour in 2026. We look forward to sharing it with the world. Photos by @dredreisme and Lawrence Sumulong. - Deborah Johnson, @candystations Louise Lessél, @louiselessel Sandbox Percussion, @sandbox_percussion

The incredible & stunning Opera “Hildegard” Featured in the New York Times! ✨ @bethmorrisonprojects @laopera

@sarahkirklandsnider ’s Mass for the Endangered turns 5 today. Hard to believe (though I’m not sure 2020–2022 count as real years). Here’s an 🌊 of memories and process. Eternally grateful for this piece—for a legion of reasons—but above all for the chance to work with Sarah, which has been one of the most profound sound-to-vision experiences of my life. The endangered need more from our better angels. May we stay forthright. Dogspeed. 🪽

Sneak preview scenes from HILDEGARD! Come join us next Monday, Sept 15, at Guggenheim Museum Works & Process to preview scenes from HILDEGARD, commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects and Aspen Music Festival and School, before its rolling world premiere at LA Opera. Join creative producer Beth Morrison; Christopher Koelsch, President and CEO, LA Opera; director Elkhanah Pulitzer; and me for a discussion on the commissioning and creation of HILDEGARD, my first opera. Set in 1147, HILDEGARD follows abbess/polymath/composer Hildegard von Bingen as she receives visions from God. At grave risk of excommunication, she sets out to document her visions, enlisting her fellow nun Richardis von Stade to illustrate the manuscript. As their passion project bleeds into passion, the two women must confront the powers that would see them struck from history rather than making it.   Singers Nola Richardson and Mikaela Bennett, accompanied by Contemporaneous Ensemble conducted by Mariana Corichi Gomez, will perform highlights from this intimate tale of two genius women finding their voices. Artwork by Deborah Johnson/CandyStations. See you there! Tickets link in bio.

I am so proud of this thing that visual artist Deborah Johnson (@candystations ) and I made together.  On January 25 and 26, the Schenectady-Saratoga Symphony Orchestra will perform EYE OF MNEMOSYNE, a multimedia orchestral work in eight movements that explores the intersection of memory, technological innovation, and cultural transformation.  The story for the piece was all Deborah. She basically gave me a visual libretto — eight movements with alluring titles, accompanied by a description and some rough visual sketches — and I wrote the music for them. I sent her midi mockups, and she then tailored her animations to the music.  Drawing on the myth of Mnemosyne, the Greek Goddess of Memory, the work (commissioned by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra) reframes George Eastman, pioneer of popular photography, and his groundbreaking Kodak campaigns as conduits for the evolution of American storytelling and visual identity. The eight movements trace photography's historical and cultural impact, paying particular homage to the Kodak Girls — Mnemosyne's muses, as it were — sophisticated, independent figures who symbolized modernity and creativity during photography’s golden age. Blending mythology with history, Eye of Mnemosyne invites audiences to reflect on the many ways the art of photography has shaped how we remember and frame our lives.    I. Prelude: "Eye of Mnemosyne"   2. Mnemonic: "Wheel of the Muses"    3. Mori: "Memory of the Dead"   4. Vive: "Power of the Snapshot"   5. Memento: "Defense Against Time"   6. Nostos: "War Story"   7.  Ephemera: "Fragmented Memory"   8. Psyche (Epilogue): "Lens of Nostalgia" Here are two clips:  1. from 3. Mori: "Memory of the Dead” 2. from 8. Psyche (Epilogue): "Lens of Nostalgia"   Also on the concert is the amazing violinist, Lara St. John. ✨  Get over there, northeastern New York!  @uph_saratoga @atproctors @larastjohn

Have you ever wondered how concert sets and visual effects are designed? This week, Emily and Alexa talk with Deborah Johnson, aka Candy Stations (@candystations ), who designed the visual effects for Sufjan Stevens’ space-inspired “Planetarium” and “Age of Adz” album tours, and has collaborated with several other artists and musicians for performances across the country. Available wherever you get your podcasts! 📷: courtesy of @candystations