Roulette Intermedium 2025 Review: Celestial Excursions

(Photo: Whitney Browne) “Celestial Excursions” by Robert Ashley was featured at Brooklyn’s Roulette Intermedium Sept. 10-12, 2025 and was commissioned by Performing Artservices, Inc. as part of the national series of works of Meet the Composer/Arts Endowment Commissioning Music/USA, which is made possible with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Helen F. Whitaker Fund, and the Catherine {…}

Q & A: Mimi Johnson, the Founder & Director of Performing Artservices (1972) & Lovely Music (1978), on Robert Ashley’s ‘Celestial Excursions’

(Credit: Matilde Chambon) Mimi Johnson is founder and director of Performing Artservices (1972) and Lovely Music (1978). She was married to composer Robert Ashley and continues to produce and tour his work, including all of Ashley’s operas, from “Perfect Lives” (1978-81) through “Crash” (2013-15) and “Quicksand “(2011-16). OperaWire reviewed Johnson’s most recent productions of Ashley’s operas, including “Improvement (Don Leaves {…}