Steven Mackey Oral History
Object number2020.001.0032
Date10/30/2020
ClassificationsOral Histories
Oral history interview subject
Steven Mackey
Oral history interviewer
Stephen Fagin
ObjectOral history
Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumBorn digital (.m2ts file), Born digital (.m4a file), Born digital (.mp4 file)
DimensionsDuration: 51 Minutes
DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Steven Mackey. A Grammy Award-winning musician and composer, Mackey is a professor of music at Princeton University. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination in 2013, he was commissioned to compose “One Red Rose” for string quartet, which premiered at Carnegie Hall and was later performed at The Sixth Floor Museum by the Brentano String Quartet. Mackey was seven years old and home sick from school on November 22, 1963.
Interview conducted via Zoom on October 30, 2020 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is fifty-one minutes long.
Curatorial CommentaryComposer Steve Mackey had been on my oral history "wish list" ever since we were not able to record an interview during his brief visit to Dallas at the 50th anniversary of the assassination in 2013. In October 2020, I was thrilled to learn that he had agreed to participate in a virtual Museum panel discussion, joining other composers and scholars to explore "Trauma, Tragedy and the Healing Power of Music." That one-hour program can be viewed in full on the Museum's YouTube channel: Trauma, Tragedy and the Healing Power of Music - YouTube. After the panel discussion, Steve very kindly agreed to re-connect with me a few days later via Zoom (in our first interview to be recorded via this format) for a long-overdue conversation. It was thrilling to hear him discuss the creation of "One Red Rose" and learn more about his personal connection to the assassination story. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
