The Valerie Project

Based in Philadelphia, PA, Unites States, the musicians of The Valerie Project bring new life to a forgotten classic of the Czechoslovak New Wave: Jaromil Jires' 1970 film "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders". Spearheaded by Greg Weeks (Espers, Grass), Brooke Sietinsons (Espers, Grass) and Margie Wienk (Fern Knight), the ensemble includes harpist Mary Lattimore, cellist Helena Espvall (Espers), Vocalist Tara Burke (Fursaxa), bassist/percussionist Jesse Sparhawk (Fern Knight, Timesbold), flautist/keyboardist Jessica Weeks (Woodwose, Grass), enigmatic electronicist Charles Cohen and percussionist Jim Ayre (Fern Knight, Rake). "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders" is the first film in The Project Series. The project started in 2006 with a simple concept; that of re-contextualising the meaning and impact of a particular film through the substitution of a newly composed soundtrack. The new soundtrack is meant to be performed live to a sound film, with the original soundtrack turned off or the original music removed. This element is unique in that most live film soundtracks are performed to silent-era films. Of course, the genesis of the project came more out of a complete infatuation with Jaromil Jires' 1970 dream poem than from any intellectual conceit. The film's relevance to a new generation of folk musicians (and to the re-emerging nature aesthetic within youth culture and society in general) made it an obvious choice when the project presented a music-to-film event at Philadelphia's International House in 2006. The project believes that the themes of religious turmoil, sexual awakening, filial complexity, doppelgänger, vampires and shadowy evils pocketed within the beauty and resplendence of the natural world make an obscure Czechoslovak New Wave film about a thirteen year old girl's coming of age still relevant for modern society in the 21st century. "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders" is a film partially born from of a complex folk tradition, centuries of provincial culture. As global borders expand and cultural homogenisation ascends, it is important that artists spread the heritage and uniqueness of pre-21st century cultural identity, so that such identities can be discovered, valued, and hopefully preserved by a modern global culture that tends to forget the learned wisdom of its past. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.