Bios
Erik Nielsen
Erik Nielsen has written two operas, A Fleeting Animal (2015) and Aliceheimer’s (2022). He has also created music for chorus, orchestra, wind ensemble, solo instruments, chamber music, dance works, film scores and electronic music. His pieces have been performed all over the world by ensembles including A Far Cry, the Amabile, Chiara, Emerson and Ying String Quartets; the National Symphony Orchestra, Vermont Symphony and Northern Harmony. He has won awards from ASCAP, the National Symphony Orchestra, Vermont Arts Council and the Vermont Music Teachers Association. Mr. Nielsen lives in Brookfield, Vermont. He completed Aliceheimer’s with support from the Vermont Community Foundation.
Dana Walrath
Dana Walrath practices a border crossing blend of creative writing, comics, art, and anthropology. Her award-winning works include Aliceheimer’s, a graphic memoir about her mother’s dementia journey, Like Water on Stone, a verse novel about the Armenian genocide, and The Book of Genocides, an interactive installation that uses artists books to counter dehumanization and genocide. Her illustrated essays, comics, commentary, and poetry have appeared in The Lancet, Irish Times, Slate, Foreign Policy, anthologies, on Public Radio and more. She has shared her work on the healing power of story throughout North America and Eurasia including two TEDx talks. An Atlantic Fellow and Fulbright Scholar with work spanning the entire life cycle, other recent projects include the picture book I Am a Bird and a contribution to the anthology Menopause: A Comic Treatment, a New York Times Best Graphic Novel of 2020 and Eisner Award Winner. She completed the libretto for the Aliceheimer’s opera with support from the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. You can visit her at www.danawalrath.com.