JOHN McDONNELL TIERNEY, PhDCOMPOSER/PLAYWRIGHT/PEACE & SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTIVIST Director, The Peaceful Educator Foundation (a 501c3 Cultural Non-Profit)“My idea is simple: In this time of national dissonance and global crises that we artists focus our work on healing a shattered world, and that we use our art to touch the emotions that motivate people to act with kindness, compassion, and tolerance.”John McDonnell TierneyAddress to the New England Foundation for the Arts “Idea Swap ‘19”October 30, 2019; Mechanics Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts Description of Work and BackgroundMY WORK, as Founder and Director of The Peaceful Educator Foundation, simply put, is to advance the mission of the Foundation every day. That mission, clearly stated in all we do, is “To nurture, through the arts, a peaceful, just, sustainable future for all humanity’s children.”The “art” I focus on in my current work is that of the Musical Theater. I bring to that work a lifetime of experience in the field and a viable product, a work for musical theater: Humanity’s Child, subtitled, “More than a Musical!” This show, now more than five years into development has achieved remarkable success. An early version of the show, titled “Peacemaker: The Dream of Humanity’s Child”, premiered in Hartford, CT in 2016. A sequel to that show was “Humanity’s Child: A Musical for Today!” that premiered in the 2019 New York Theater Festival and was recognized for best musical, direction, and choreography; and, then ran for four weeks Off-Broadway at the Players Theatre earning many positive reviews. Most recently, an updated version of the Off-Broadway libretto along with the addition of several new songs premiered as an “Audio Musical, aka “Virtual Musical” on the prestigious Atlanta Fringe Audio Festival where it will play until May 2021.https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-wjikq-e1be95All this brings me to the current moment and my daily work which is, as ever, to advance the mission. I do that now, not by composing, and not by playwriting, but by facilitating the success of a small and powerful group of collaborators; specifically four “Lead Producers” actively working on fundraising, social media, communications, marketing, and educational outreach initiatives. They share a goal of producing a video version of the full musical and, to the degree that public safety allows, a touring company bringing the mission and the message on the wings of music to communities throughout New England.MY BACKGROUND, is described in this brief bio: John McDonnell Tierney, aka “Jack,” holds advanced degrees in Music (UMASS) and Educational Psychology (UCONN) and has held fulltime college faculty position in both fields. From 1996 until his retirement as a Professor of Psychology in 2012, Dr. Tierney focused his teaching practice and scholarly research on Adolescent Development. Prior to 1996, Jack was a fulltime Professor of Music specializing in Musical Theater. Over the course of his career, Jack produced and/or directed more than fifty musical productions with high school, college, community and professional companies as well as commercial clients. He also composed several major musicals including “Dreamsinger” (2000), Peacemaker (2016), Humanity’s Child Off-Broadway (2019), and the 2021 version of Humanity’s Child, subtitled “More than a Musical," currently in production.A note regarding Minimum and Maximum Fees: Our main goal in setting fees is to keep them as low as possible while still paying professional salaries to artists and covering production expenses. Fees to Presenters will range widely depending of the number of performances, travel and lodging requirements, and technology required. Thus, one performance at a local venue that has full tech in-house may be as low as $3,000.00. On the other hand, say three shows at a distant venue with limited tech would perhaps be up to $10,000.00.A note regarding Teaching Artist Fees: We have regarded this category not for offering a full production for educational contexts, but rather offering the services of the composer/playwright as a workshop/professional development presenter, guest speaker, and all-around consultant on issues related to the theater and social justice. Thus, we have indicated a fee range of $500.00 to $2,500.00 depending of the number of days/hours service, travel and lodging, and technology required.
