jared schwartz

In January 2025, the first public workshop of my opera about Egon Schiele had its concert premiere in NYC inpartnership with the Neue Galerie.  Formerly titled SCHIELE IN PRISON and now titled EGON, it tells the story of the only artist in over 1,000 years of Austrian history ever imprisoned for his art: Egon Schiele. 

This 100-minute opera with 11 singers, string quartet and piano is set during the years 1904 to 1912, covering Egon's teenage years through his traumatic prison experience.  

Thanks to the assistance of Dr. Alessandra Comini, whose book, Schiele in Prison, inspired my interest in Schiele, I was able to spend one night in Schiele’s prison cell in Neulengbach, Austria. It was a powerful experience—the near pitch-black room, the tall, thick walls, and the unbearable silence—I felt as if I had been buried alive. This experience greatly influenced the prison scene music as it alternates between supporting Egon with his memories and torturing him with the voices in his head.