Bryan Schwartz. When Bryan Schwartz’s musical “Consoulation: A Musical Mediation” premiered, reviewers described it as a “great, great journey”, filled with heart, humour and wit, and the author as a “budding Stephen Sondheim.”
It was an unexpected debut from Bryan, who was known until then for his other careers.
Bryan was already an award-winning academic, with a doctorate in from Yale Law School, and decades of success as a law professor. On legal and political issues, Bryan has been a media pundit, newspaper columnist; one of his popular guides to Canadian constitutional crises even became a best-seller.
As a practicing lawyer, Bryan has appeared in over a dozen cases at the Supreme Court of Canada.
As an arbitrator, Bryan has adjudicated in disputes all the way from the provincial to international law.
As a playwright, poet and songwriter, Bryan draws on a remarkable variety of traditions. These range from French cabaret to Monty Python and Mel Brook, from Jewish liturgical music to the Muppets. His voice, however, is his own. It is marked by a compelling clarity and succinctness.
Bryan’s aim – every word and every note should count.
He hopes that readers and listeners will be rewarded – moved to laugh, cry, think – on the first encounter.
And that they will want to return, and each time see and feel something further.
Ultimately, his journey is a spiritual one; “Consoulation” is about why we need to sing; “the Sacred Goof” is about how we can still laugh. With this website, you can catch up on all of his musical works to date – and you are invited to join him in the journeys to come.
Bryan Schwartz holds an LL.B. from Queen’s and a Master’s and Doctorate in law from Yale Law School. He has been a member of the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba since 1981, and in 1999 became the inaugural Asper Professor of International Business and Trade Law. Bryan is an author/contributor of 33 books and has over 200 publications in all.
https://www.sacredgoof.ca/about/