Olmsted Panoramic: An electric evening of public parks & live cello
with Mark Roessler and Gideon Freudmann.
In this full-length stage presentation, learn the true story of Olmsted’s
rise to fame, his fall (he quit Central Park, vowing never to return),
and how Calvert Vaux convinced him to return to park building.
Together, they designed parks to help heal the republic
after the Civil War.
On November 12, 2025, author Mark Roessler celebrated the release of his new book, Fairsted, with a big screen tour and discussion of Olmsted’s parks at the Academy of Music in Northampton. Roessler was accompanied by renowned recording artist, cellist, and composer Gideon Freudmann. The show’s success has inspired Roessler and Freudmann to look into taking their act on the road in 2026. They are busy planning possible dates and venues.
In addition to Central Park, Olmsted and his sons designed hundreds of parks across America. Connecting urban dwellers to wilderness settings was the stated goal, but his parks had an ulterior motive.
By connecting strangers to one another in a natural setting, he hoped to strengthen American democracy itself. The show explores how this goal was accomplished, where the inspiration to make park-building his life’s work and lasting legacy came from, and how that vision can help us now.
Accompanied by cello, Olmsted Panoramic brings the audience on a guided tour of several Olmsted parks, projected on the silver screen. The book will be available for purchase after the presentation.
Mark Roessler is a writer, photographer, and designer who creates interactive tours of Olmsted parks and other historic spaces. His work appears on his website, panorambles.com and in a series of books from Levellers Press, including A Panoramic Tour of the Northampton State Hospital. He was formerly Managing Editor of the Valley Advocate and has been a student of Olmsted for decades. Fairsted is his fifth book.
Gideon Freudmann performs and records as CelloBop (CelloBop.com). With a cello and an array of technology at his toe tips, Freudmann’s music is transporting, often surprising, and always engaging. He has produced countless albums, performs regularly (often providing live, improvised soundtracks to silent films), and his music has been heard in films, television, and NPR. His influences are clear—blues, rock, Bach, jazz, and folk—but his sound is unlike anything you’ve likely heard before. Freudmann now lives in the Pacific Northwest, but for many years, he was based Hadley, MA and performed throughout New England.
Interested in hosting a performance of Olmsted Panoramic? Please contact us through the “Comments” link at the bottom of the page.