Storyteller
Author
Educator
Margaret Wolfson
is a performing storyteller
award-winning author
and educator.

Bio

Prior to launching her brand naming agency River + Wolf in 2014 Margaret had a long and distinguished career in the arts. After receiving her M.A. from New York, she developed a unique form of story-theater, performing fairytales, myths, and epics set to original music throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. In addition to her storytelling work, Margaret collaborated with illustrators on a number of critically acclaimed books and has worked as an arts educator and consultant. Due to the growth of River + Wolf, Margaret Wolfson is only accepting select performance engagements.

Concerts

With musicians Paula Chan Bing, Michael Ching, Simon Shaheen, and others, Margaret has performed storytelling concerts throughout the world, appearing in places such as the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Sydney Opera House, the National Theater, the Abu Dhabi Theater, the Asia Society, Harvard, Princeton, the United Nations, and the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, to mention a few. Her performance work has been supported by numerous grants from The National Endowment for the Humanities; The Kennedy Center, Aramco, Poets & Writers, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Books

Margaret has collaborated with illustrators on a number of critically acclaimed books, among them Marriage of the Rain Goddess created with visual artist, Clifford Parms. Published in multiple languages, Marriage of the Rain Goddess won a United Kingdom Reading Association Award for substantial contribution to children’s literature. Margaret also co-authored two highly acclaimed books with the late philanthropist, Edgar Bronfman. Additionally, Margaret has a long career as an arts educator and arts program designer.

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

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

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 commented that it was the best thing that Middle Eastern Studies Program has ever 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 of Majnun Layla 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 by Margaret Wolfson and Paula Chan Bing.

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

Margaret Wolfson’s 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

Marriage of the Rain Goddess is 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.

Jessica Balboni, Director of Education, the 92nd Street Y

The Children’s Music Festival was a resounding success, in large part due to Margaret Wolfson’s work. Everyone is raving.

Judi Linden, Executive Director, Midori & Friends Foundation

Due to the explosive growth of River + Wolf, Margaret is only accepting a very limited number of engagements. If you wish to book Margaret for performance, please contact her directly at margaret@gmail.com. For River + Wolf queries, please visit www.riverandwolf.com or call 212-522-2111 (office) or 347-350-4888 (mobile). You can also reach Margaret directly at Margaret@riverandwolf.com

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