String Quartet OCD
I'm Loretta Notareschi, a composer in Denver, CO. I write music for chamber ensembles, orchestras, and choirs. Last year, I decided to go deep and write a string quartet, called String Quartet OCD, about my experience with postpartum OCD following the birth of my daughter. Postpartum OCD is characterized by intense fear and anxiety, in response to which mothers develop repetitive coping behaviors. I struggled with the disease for a year, all the while receiving excellent treatment. I finally recovered from it after my daughter's first birthday.
This piece was premiered in the last two weeks and recorded at the Colorado Public Radio Performance Studio by Denver's awesome Playground Ensemble. It seemed to resonate with audiences. I've been told it's "beautiful," "cathartic," "a masterpiece," "compelling," "brave," and "brilliant." Along with the piece I presented an essay that tells my story, educates audiences about the disease, and explains how to get help.
Now I want to release the piece and essay as an EP (a short album--the piece is about 22 minutes). Will you help me?
Estimated release date is April 9, 2016.
What I Need & What You Get
Here's who and what I need funding for. It's $2000 split among:
-Performers - Sarah Whitnah, Leslie Sawyer, Donald Schumacher, and Richard vonFoerster - all fantastic musicians!
-Sound engineer - Martin Skavish
-Designer of the CD cover and booklet - Michael Campbell
-CD duplication and shipping for 500 CDs
-CD Baby registration
$2000 is a bargain for all of this.
For your donation, I'm happy to offer perks like a digital download, a signed CD, a signed score, a composition lesson, a talk about postpartum OCD, or even a brand new piece for you! See the right hand column for details.
I am optimistic about meeting the goal, but should it fall short of $2000, I'm still going to put the money toward the project and complete it eventually. I believe in this project both for the music and the education about postpartum mental illness.
Should the donations go over $2000 (wouldn't that be cool?), I have some "stretch goals" of presenting the piece and an educational panel about postpartum mental health for parents and staff at Denver's Family Star Montessori School, and at Postpartum Progress' Warrior Moms Conference in Atlanta. Both organizations have invited me to present. To reach these stretch goals, I'd need about $1400 ($1000 for Family Star and $400 for Warrior Moms).
10% of the sales of the CD will be donated to the Healthy Expectations Program for Perinatal Mental Health at Children's Hospital Colorado.
The Impact
The pathos and message of this piece are all about providing hope and relieving isolation for other families experiencing the spectrum of postpartum mental health disorders, which include depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and psychosis. The piece has already been doing this. Here are some quotes from people I've heard from so far about the piece:
"I'm writing to thank you for talking about your experience with postpartum anxiety and OCD. I suffered much the same thing a couple of years ago when my daughter was born, but never sought help, or really expressed what I was going through. So much fear, so many terrifying images & intrusive thoughts! It was somehow cathartic to hear you talk about getting through it, and what's even better, making art from it. Brava!"
"[A]s a fellow musician, I simply have to reach out and tell you that the movement shared in the story just couldn't be more incredible. I felt like I was taken back to moments of despair from 2008 when my daughter was born - I had crushing PPD and OCD."
" Having gone through postpartum OCD myself I especially appreciated it. It is a frightening experience and something that is not talked about enough out in the open."
"Brilliant! We love what you're doing!....It's great to see how you've translated your experiences into music and turn something painful into something positive."
Other Ways You Can Help
Thanks for reading this far! If you want to support the project but can't make a financial contribution right now, you can still help by getting the word out. Please share on Facebook, Twitter, etc, etc. Use the Indiegogo share tools below!
Thank you very much.