As a solo actress Wolfson performs with a dynamic expressiveness that is utterly spellbinding.
— Jack Kukuk, Director of Education, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Thank you for your remarkable contribution to the Abu Dhabi Festival.
— H. E. Hoda Al Khamis Kanoo, Founder and Artistic Director, the Abu Dhabi Music and Art Foundation
The Ching/Wolfson collaboration is simply marvelous. It’s either like being told a great story with musical accompaniment or hearing a wonderful piece of music made more engaging by a narrator.
— Dan Leeson, The San Francisco Classical Voice
Actress/author/mythologist Margaret Olivia Wolfson, who wrote the libretto, performed the ancient story and each of its many characters with flair and vivid stage presence. While the music stands remarkably well on its own—rather like a string of pearls–a performance without Wolfson would diminish the entire effort.
— Scott MacClelland, MetroActive, San Jose, California
Psyche and Eros was an absolutely splendid performance. Everyone raved.
— Amelia Barton, Executive Director, Delta Arts, Lincoln Center Summer Institute
Margaret Wolfson’s re-telling of the Epic of Gilgamesh was storytelling at its best. With great passion she brought images of an ancient landscape, a ferocious king, and a compassionate friend to vivid life.
— Ranjanaa Devi, Director, Asian Arts and Culture, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
It was a great pleasure to present World Myth and Music. The audience enjoyed the performance from beginning to end. I would highly recommend your performance to any of my fellow presenters.
— Christopher Beach, Director, The Performing Arts Center SUNY Purchase
Every school and community center on this schedule reported back to me that World Myth and Music performed by storyteller Margaret Wolfson and musician Paula Chan Bing was a singularly beautiful experience. The most predominant comment was ‘when can we have them back, and can they please stay longer?’
— Roy Hall, Music/Artist-in Residence Coordinator, Department of Defense Dependents Schools
Thank you for the absolutely delightful and moving performance of Majnun Layla. It was a resounding success and many comment that it was the best thing that Middle Eastern Studies Program has every done. The dramatic narrative was beautifully done and the music was excellent.
— Dr. Salih Altoma, Professor Emeritus, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Indiana University
The performances was superb, the dramatically spoken story, the music and scenery charmed its sophisticated audience…it was as satisfying as a well-produced opera.
— Dr. Mansour Ajami, Princeton University
On behalf of everyone at the Harvard University Center for Middle Eastern Studies, I want to thank you and ensemble. Your original interpretation of Majnun Layla was exquisite, both in the language itself and the storytelling. Your own energy, creativity, and talent are enormous. You have created a program of tremendous beauty and impact.
— Amy Meyers, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University
World Myth and Music presented a poignant performance.
— The Courier Journal, Louisville, Kentucky
A beautiful, utterly sensitive performance of Asian tales.
— Beate Sirota Gordon, Performing Arts Director, The Asia Society
Wolfson held the audience spellbound.
— The Woodstock Times
Quiet anticipation, gasps and giggles were the responses as (storyteller Margaret Wolfson and musician Paula Chan Bing) fired young imaginations with centuries-old tales of enchantment.
— Lynn Hefley, Los Angeles Times
We are very pleased with your work and will continue to look for opportunities to bring you back for our audiences. Thank you for a marvelous program.
— Allison Day, Museum Educator, the Brooklyn Museum of Art
…her whole self becomes enmeshed in whatever myth she is telling, every movement, every expression, every word was as if the spirit of that myth was encompassed in her body, speaking through her. It was really a spiritual feeling really, one not easily explainable.
— Kathy McGown, Community Relations Director, Barnes and Noble
…a flowing, incantatory text…encrusted with poetic epithets…so well are art and text wedded that readers will close the book and feel as if they are the ones who have been in a dream.
— Kirkus, pointered
Wolfson’s use of poetic language conveys a sense of wonder beyond the earthly world and Parms’s bold pastel illustrations give heroic import to the story.
— School Library Journal
This engrossing, enlightening tale uses action to deliver the message and works well on several levels.
— Booklist
The message is positive and heart-warming. It sings of harmony for all the world and whatever is in it. Ecologically minded readers will enjoy sharing it with their children.
— Junior Bookshelf
Mother of Beauty is a direct, lyrical, searingly honest, redemptive evocation of the primal mother-daughter connection, of the reality of loss and the private immortality that love brings. It is one of the most moving texts I have read about these themes.
— Jonathan Galassi, President and Publisher, Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux
Lushly colored illustrations accompany this well told-tale. Folklore collections will benefit from this unusual addition.
— School Library Journal
Wolfson’s text moves simply, lyrically, and with limpid clarity. Its rhythms suggest reading aloud. Clifford Parms’s illustrations complement the words. Barefoot Books consolidates its reputation with this resonant, lovely work.
— The School Librarian
A hauntingly beautiful retelling of the union between heaven and earth. It also holds an ecological message for readers.
— Quarterly Black Review
An exquisite retelling of a South African myth about the marriage between heaven and earth, spirit and matter.
— The Asian Times
Margaret Wolfson’s work as a performing and workshop leader in both creative writing and storytelling is simply superb.
— Yolande Spears, Vice-President of Community Affairs, Director of Education, The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts
Margaret’s Myth Project was absolutely brilliant on every level. Our acting students loved it.
— Susan Solt, Dean of Theater / Professor, CalArts, Santa Clarita, CA
Margaret is an extraordinary artist, educator and human being. Her ability to give generously to others, her sincere dedication, and deep reservoir of intelligence and imagination, make her a special individual. Everyone I have ever spoken to, from professional artists and presenters, to children, parents, and school administrators—all affirm her status as a leading practitioner in the field of arts education.
— Jessica Balboni, Director of Education, the 92nd Street Y
The Children’s Music Festival was a resounding success, in large part due to your work. Everyone is raving.
— Judi Linden, Executive Director, Midori & Friends Foundation
Margaret is completely magical! She makes the boys come alive, embrace books, and love reading.
— Stacey Bronfman, The Big Story Book Club NYC