Trailer for the magic lantern theatre show, combining music story and analogue projector technology to tell the tale of the ancient Light Queen. Music, story and illustrations by Georgia Beatty. 

"THE BOOK OF STARS is the story of the Light Queen, written and performed by musician and folk artist Georgia Beatty. The show combines original music with the analogue projector technology known as a “magic lantern” to tell the tale of the cosmic queen who is reborn every 3,000 years to learn the Songs of Light, and use them to heal Earth from oppressive powers. 

Exploring resonance as both a musical and ancestral concept, visuals, song and story intertwine in a spellbinding dream inviting us to become living archives, capable of healing a broken world. "

A view of my performance during the final show of my project release tour. This was taken at Black Cherry Puppet Theatre, June 14, 2026. 

The first single from The Book of Stars: Collection of the Heir. Georgia Beatty on cello and voice. 

About the album:

"The Book of Stars: Collection of the Heir is the culmination of many singers’ work tending to the songs the Air Queen learned in the time of the Light Queen. Passed down through her lineage, I sing to you what’s left of her recounts of the Ocean Queen, the Earth Queen, and the Light Queen. These songs were always meant to be sung in pairs, but those of us who know the stories of this music have diminished. Some time ago, we adapted to playing with instruments when we were the only singer of the Air in our villages. To honour the importance of what the Air Queen carried for us, we now sometimes spell her name as Heir. May her music always live beyond our voices."

The second single from The Book of Stars: Collection of the Heir. Georgia Beatty on cello and voice. 

About the album:

"The Book of Stars: Collection of the Heir is the culmination of many singers’ work tending to the songs the Air Queen learned in the time of the Light Queen. Passed down through her lineage, I sing to you what’s left of her recounts of the Ocean Queen, the Earth Queen, and the Light Queen. These songs were always meant to be sung in pairs, but those of us who know the stories of this music have diminished. Some time ago, we adapted to playing with instruments when we were the only singer of the Air in our villages. To honour the importance of what the Air Queen carried for us, we now sometimes spell her name as Heir. May her music always live beyond our voices."

Magic Lantern art that correlates with the part of the folktale and song "Dirt-Time"

This art correlates with the story section and song called "Sing To Me".

The art that accompanies the song and story section called "Queen's Cradle"

This is the first page of The Book of Stars: Stories of the Light Queen written by Georgia Beatty and illustrated by Rachel Wojnar. This is the story I read aloud in my performance of The Book of Stars magic lantern show. 

The first illustration of The Book of Stars: Stories of the Light Queen by Rachel Wojnar. Rachel and I worked together closely to decide what the illustrations would depict. To create continuity across the folktale book and magic lantern show, I made parallel illustrations for the magic lantern, albeit in my own style. 

The song "Queen's Cradle" from The Book of Stars: Collection of the Heir. Georgia Beatty on cello and voice. 

About the album: 
"The Book of Stars: Collection of the Heir is the culmination of many singers’ work tending to the songs the Air Queen learned in the time of the Light Queen. Passed down through her lineage, I sing to you what’s left of her recounts of the Ocean Queen, the Earth Queen, and the Light Queen. These songs were always meant to be sung in pairs, but those of us who know the stories of this music have diminished. Some time ago, we adapted to playing with instruments when we were the only singer of the Air in our villages. To honour the importance of what the Air Queen carried for us, we now sometimes spell her name as Heir. May her music always live beyond our voices."

A moment during the album release show for Apprentice to Transformation at the Troy Listening Room in Troy, NY. This venue also serves as a recording studio, and it is where I recorded the album with audio engineer Sam Torres. 

"Apprentice to Transformation" written by Georgia Beatty and the title track of her first full-length album released 2022. Performed live at An Die Musik on December 20, 2022 as part of BOISTER's annual Winter Solstice Concert. 

"As Prayer", the single from the album Apprentice to Transformation released 2022 by Georgia Beatty. Music, dance performance and video by Georgia Beatty.

Image: Cut paper and ink in water by Maisie O'Brien. Text: Ink handwritten by Georgia Beatty. Made as commission for Georgia Beatty's album Apprentice to Transformation. 

A crankie by Georgia Beatty. 

"In the southern region of Norway called Telemark, a young hardingfele player is born the fateful day her mother, a beautiful and wise player herself, hands her daughter one of these magical instruments and begins the young girl on her journey into understanding the mysterious and captivating 300-year-old tradition..."

A still from the crankie written, illustrated and performed by Georgia Beatty. 

"In the southern region of Norway called Telemark, a young hardingfele player is born the fateful day her mother, a beautiful and wise player herself, hands her daughter one of these magical instruments and begins the young girl on her journey into understanding the mysterious and captivating 300-year-old tradition..."

A view of Katherine Fahey's crankie while I sit beside her and fiddle my original composition for the Cat Island story.

Original music for the crankie by Katherine Fahey. This is the "soundtrack" that audience members will hear underneath Katherine's voice as she tells the story of the black cat farm on Poplar Island on the Eastern shore of Maryland. Composed and performed by Georgia Beatty on fiddle. 

The tune you are hearing in this video was performed live at my album release show October 2022 in Troy, NY. A few years prior, I learned first learned the tune from the esteemed Norwegian fiddler Mari Eggen when she came to teach in the US. This tune is named "Gauken" which is Norwegian for cuckoo, hence the bird image appearing in the video every time I play the two harmonic notes, emulating a bird call. 

I decided to make a playful combination of picture and sound, using simple animation techniques on the magic lantern (analogue projector) to illustrate myself as the fiddler. Art and music by Georgia Beatty.

I learned many tunes from the esteemed Norwegian fiddler Mari Eggen when she came to teach in the US in 2019.This is a photo of me in her class.

(Behind The Scenes) A side view of my hand-constructed magic lantern (an analogue style projector). Wooden box, metal tube holding a glass lens, black paint.

Here you can see the very small illustration that I project through the magic lantern. My hand is used for size reference. This "fiddler" is drawn on two sheets of acetate that move independently. Their arm and fiddle bow one one sheet, their body and fiddle on another. This allows me to create the effect of their arm moving a bow up and down the fiddle's strings as you hear my live fiddle music.