Norman Mathews is a composer, author of books and articles, librettist,  playwright, and gastronome. His work has been performed at the Kennedy Center, on radio, and at theatres and concert venues around the world. A recipient of numerous awards, foundation grants, and commissions. Mathews has composed opera, musical theatre, art songs, chamber music, and choral works, which have been performed by Tony-Award winners and major operatic talent. As a journalist, he has been News Editor of Dance Magazine, Managing Editor of Sylvia Porter’s Personal Finance Magazine, and Editorial Director of Merrill Lynch internal publications. His articles have been published in Common Dreams and the Times of Sicily. His music is published by Graphite Publishing.

Articles

Are Democrats Really Clueless About Impending Election Doom,? Common Dreams, June 29, 2022.

Why Are Democrats So Clueless About Impending Election Doom,? LA Progressive, June 30, 2022

When News Drives Creativity, Theater Art Life, March 15, 2019

One Catholic Remembers the Verbal Abuse He Took From A Priest, Metrosource, February 21, 2019

Sicilian Meatball Soup, Times of Sicily, February 19, 2019

Two Delectable Holiday Confections, Times of Sicily, December 17, 2018

Sicilian Classics from Nonni’s Kitchen, Times of Sicily, November 2, 2018

A Journey to a Sicilian Opera, Times of Sicily, March 13, 2017

Time to Reset Our Moral Compass, Common Dreams,
July 30, 2011

I was born in the wrong town (Rockford, Illinois), the wrong era, and with the wrong name, Ignatius Norman Cancelose, a nightmare that was finally legally changed in 2013.

So what was I to do? With one severely arched eyebrow, my mini-adult self took stock of my uninviting surroundings and imagined a more glamorous future for myself. Though a life in the theatre beckoned, I lacked the self-assurance and discipline to put forth a plan of action. Instead, I floundered. Psychological abuse by a priest left me traumatized and led to absurdly hilarious, yet totally ineffective psychotherapy. A nearly disastrous episode at age twenty engendered a resolve to pull myself together.

Wannabe journalists spend years attaining advanced degrees in hopes of becoming the next Dorothy Parker or Carl Bernstein. I, on the other hand, stumbled unwillingly into the field because as a college dropout I was simply unqualified to do anything else. Ballet classes begun at a late age eventually propelled me into a career as a dancer on Broadway and films, where I worked with Barbra Streisand, Gene Kelly, Dorothy Lamour and Michael Bennett. An untimely injury forced me into a new career path as a pianist and piano teacher, once I earned my master’s degree. A seemingly ridiculous suggestion by my life’s partner to try my hand at composing set me on a whole new adventure. What followed was a career as a composer of serious concert music, opera, and musical theatre, as well as that of a librettist and playwright.

Having once considered a career as a professional chef, I instead turned my love of good food into my avocation. Though I never trained professionally, I’ve worked myself through some of the major cookbooks of my time and experimented with developing recipes all my life. Also, I come from a family of good cooks, my paternal grandmother and grandfather once were restaurant chefs and earned a side living cooking for Italian weddings.