Greenberger and Greenberg: On Story and Music

Beyond being atmospheric and scene setting, music can play an active role in audio pieces. David Greenberger has worked with a wide range of musicians and composers for his radio monologues, which are adapted from conversations he has with the elderly.

Beyond being atmospheric and scene setting, music can play an active role in audio pieces. David Greenberger has worked with a wide range of musicians and composers for his radio monologues, which are adapted from conversations he has with the elderly.

Chicago musician Mark Greenberg, who's collaborated with Greenberger, talks about the process from a musician's perspective.


Featuring

David Greenberger

David Greenberger has spent the past three decades conversing with the elderly and publishing the results in a periodical called The Duplex Planet. His approach is outside the realm of oral history, focusing on exploring what the whole of society has in common with old folks: individualism, a desire to be known, and a hope of growing old with dignity. The work has yielded monologue performances, books, CDs, a comic book adaptation, two documentaries, a one-act play, and a short film.

Mark Greenberg

Mark Greenberg is a musician who lives in Chicago, Illinois, with his wife Ann-Marie and their three children: Georgia, August, and Frankie. In the early 90s, Greenberg was a member of the musical group the Coctails, who toured extensively, recorded many records together, and even reunited in 2005 for a tour of Japan. Greenberg and Ann-Marie own and operate two music-for-use companies: Mayfair Recordings and Mayfair Workshop, where Greenberg composes music for soundtracks, spots, records, and video games.