The Snake Charmer's Birthday Gift: Cerise Jacobs at TEDxBeaconStreet

One day, I woke up inspired: I would write a new American opera based on the most beloved myth in China -- the 1,000 year old Legend of the White Snake -- as a birthday gift to my husband, Charles. What did I know about making new opera? Nothing (I was a lawyer, after all.) But Charles and I believe that individuals can create beauty in our world and this belief propelled us through the perils of creating, commissioning, financing, producing and all the millions of arduous, tortuous steps to bring a work of art from conception to fruition. Charles lived to see the world premiere of Madame White Snake. He died before his gift won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize. He is applauding!

Cerise Lim Jacobs is a lifelong student of living creatively and imaginatively to achieve success across disciplines. She was born in colonial Singapore. At eighteen, she eloped and sojourned through the world until she settled in Massachusetts. She was a trial partner at one of NE's largest law firms and conceived of and wrote the libretti for OUROBOROS Trilogy, three operas based on the 1,000 year old Legend of the White Snake. The first opera, Madame White Snake, won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize. She recently cofounded SqueePlay, a Facebook video game company, with her son, Pirate Epstein. Their first game, SqueeDogs, has just launched.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)