Carla Kihlstedt explains the inspiration and development of her new piece based on Jorge Luis Borges' "Book of Imaginary Beings, Necessary Monsters" "Necessary Monsters" is a set of nine songs performed by seven musicians and a narrator. Carla Kihlstedt is the composer, violinist, primary vocalist, and director. The libretto is by Rafael Osés, a Cuban-American poet, artist and educator living on the East Coast. In this performance, the audience follows the delirious journey of a writer cajoled by creatures of her own imagining as she tries in vain to corral and contain them in an orderly field guide. Each poem is a manifestation of an imaginary creature culled from Jorge Luis Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings. Though the character of each one is distinct and unique, together the beings create a cohesive whole, living side by side in one mind. Likewise, though each song is singular in its musical approach, the journey from the first to the last is captivating and complete. There is a folk-inspired song set in the woods, a military march, a dizzying circus waltz, an intimate piece of chamber music, an insistent and aggressive rock song. "Necessary Monsters" is a celebration of creativity and of the act of self-reflection. All of the beings in the Borges book are the result of people having had the courage to look into their own minds and articulate what they saw, whether it's dark and disturbing, or humorous and laughable. "Necessary Monsters" is the first of two parts of a larger project called the Imaginary Beings Project. The second part is a web-based crowd-sourced project called The Bestiary: a living, breathing collection of newly imagined beings -- a contemporary continuation of Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings. People can submit their contributions to the site in the form of visual art, text, animation or music to either create completely new beings or reinterpret the originals. For more information, visit: www.imaginarybeingsproject.com