Part of the Pure Lucia project, “Lunch with Lucia” is a web series of lunchtime conversations exploring the music and legacy of composer Lucia Dlugoszewski. Hosted by curator Dustin Hurt, each live Zoom session features a guest artist or scholar delving into a different facet of Dlugoszewski’s work—from her groundbreaking timbre piano technique and invented percussion instruments to her radical approach to composition for brass, strings, and dance. These informal, accessible discussions offer a unique chance to rediscover one of the most visionary—and underrecognized—figures in 20th-century experimental music.

In Of Love: Lucia Dlugoszewski and Erick Hawkins, dancer and choreographer Katherine Duke reflects on the extraordinary artistic and personal partnership between Lucia Dlugoszewski and choreographer Erick Hawkins. Duke, who knew and collaborated closely with both artists and currently serves as Artistic Director of the Erick Hawkins Dance Company, offers an intimate perspective on their complex relationship—one defined by profound mutual respect, intense creativity, and occasionally significant challenges.

From their first collaborations in the early 1950s until Hawkins’s death in 1994, Dlugoszewski and Hawkins shared an artistic dialogue shaped by deep philosophical and aesthetic explorations. Both were profoundly influenced by Asian art forms and poetry, constantly seeking new ways to express ideas of beauty, spirituality, and immediacy through movement and sound. Though they were married—a fact known only to their closest friends—they maintained independent artistic identities, periodically giving each other creative space and collaborating with other artists.

This conversation will explore how Lucia and Erick navigated the inevitable tensions of two powerful creative personalities working side-by-side, as well as their commitment to each other’s work despite periods of separation. Duke will also discuss how Lucia’s deep involvement with Erick and his company was both enriching and limiting, and consider the lasting impact this dynamic had on perceptions of Lucia’s own artistic legacy.

This online program takes place from 12:00pm to 1:00pm Eastern US time (EDT) as a Zoom Webinar. Registration is required, but free. An archive of the program will be available on the page after the event.

This event is part of PURE LUCIA, a retrospective of the life and work of Lucia Dlugoszewski.

Major support for PURE LUCIA: THE MUSIC OF LUCIA DLUGOSZEWSKI has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage with additional support from the Amphion Foundation.