EYE OF MNEMOSYNE
ROCHESTER PHILHARMONIC
“A multimedia orchestral work on memory, innovation, and culture as refracted through the lens of photography.” – Nonesuch Records
EYE OF MNEMOSYNE is a 23-minute, seven-movement multimedia orchestral work commissioned by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for its centennial season. Reimagining George Eastman through the lens of the Greek goddess of memory, the work explores photography, nostalgia, and the women whose labor helped shape Kodak's legacy.
In this narrative, composer Sarah Kirkland Snider and I reimagine George Eastman as a vessel of the Greek Goddess of Memory, Mnemosyne, and focus on the essential role that women -- the Kodak Girls -- played in Kodak's success in advertising and film processing. Here the Kodak Girls are presented as descendants of Mnemosyne, muses who influenced and inspired how Americans began to arrange, capture, and experience their lives’ recollections using the instrument of the camera and the power of the snapshot.
The projections were mapped to the architecture of the Eastman Theatre — paying further homage to its founder and legacy.
Production Credits
Composer:
Sarah Kirkland Snider
Creative Direction + Visual Design + Libretto:
Deborah Johnson
TouchDesigner Programming:
Louise Lessél
Resolume Programmer:
Eric Epstein
Commissioned by:
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor:
Andreas Delfs
Year:
2024 - Present
Eye of Mnemosyne in Process
Archival Research
The project began within the George Eastman archives, gathering photographs, advertisements, Kodak ephemera, Victorian symbolism, and historical references related to image-making, memory, and performance.
Reimagining the Kodak Girl
Archival photographs became the foundation for a series of drawings and digital studies. These figures evolved into descendants of Mnemosyne—part muse, part memory structure—appearing throughout the work as carriers of cultural remembrance.
Architecture as Projection Surface
The final compositions were developed specifically for the Eastman Theatre, allowing memory to unfold across the architecture itself. Images expand beyond the screen, inhabiting columns, arches, and ornamental surfaces throughout the hall.
Chapters from Eye of Mnemosyne continue to evolve beyond the concert experience through music visuals, short films, and recorded releases. These excerpts include visuals created for Sarah Kirkland Snider's 2026 release Forward Into Light, including the official video for III. Mori: “Memory of the Dead”, released on Nonesuch Records.
From Concert Hall to Screen
Chapters from Eye of Mnemosyne continue to evolve beyond the concert experience through music visuals, short films, and recorded releases. These excerpts include visuals created for Sarah Kirkland Snider's 2026 release Forward Into Light, including the official video for III. Mori: “Memory of the Dead”, released on Nonesuch Records.