Click on the links below for more information about each residency, including artist biographies, press articles, and additional performances.

Artist Residency musicians and ensembles

The history of Yellow Barn's Artist Residency program

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2025-2026 Residency Season

Rachel Schutz, soprano
Xak Bjerken, piano
Studio recording (Sun Hill Studio)

Rachel Schutz begins her recording of 20th- and 21st-century Welsh Art Song

In April 2025, Routledge published my book Welsh Vocal Music: A Guide to Lyric Diction and Repertoire. The book offers an introduction to Welsh lyric diction and provides readers with a guide to notable composers of Wales and their vocal works. There is a rich body of art song, choral music, and opera from Wales that is not well-known outside the country, and this book seeks to introduce it to a broader audience and encourage wider performance.

While much of the repertoire featured in the book has been recorded and is accessible to international audiences, many wonderful pieces have not been. The aim of this artist residency is therefore to record an album of such music. The album will feature a stylistically varied collection of 20th- and 21st-century art songs in both Welsh and English.

—Rachel Schutz

Seán Morgan-Rooney, piano
Big Barn performance: September 19 at 7:30pm (The Big Barn)

A Few Reflect the Heart: A personal journey through Ravel’s Miroirs for solo piano, with original works and film created in response by Seán Morgan-Rooney

 “The eye sees itself not, but by reflection, by some other things...”

Maurice Ravel cited this particular quote from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar as the inspiration for his piano suite Miroirs. The quote describes how we do not see ourselves directly, but rather perceive ourselves in the reflections of external sources. In composing Miroirs, Ravel was seeing his own humanity reflected in nature - the night moths, the melancholy birds, the boat on the ocean...

In this performance, four pieces I have written for piano and electronic track bring an extra dimension to the idea of reflection. These original works reflect the natural themes of Miroirs and communicate a personal musical response to Ravel's suite.

On a parallel plane, a similar process of reflection occurs in the visual material accompanying this music. I have created original films which reflect the music's natural themes and which aim to convey an inner emotional world through reflections, memories and scenes of the nature in which he grew up. My mother plays a role in conveying the connection to the land through spoken memories and poetry. With my original music and film, I explore how autobiographical elements can be incorporated in an intentional way, setting out to dissolve the artificial boundaries that all too often separate the musical score from its recreation.

—Seán Morgan-Rooney

Departure Duo
Nina Guo, soprano, Edward Kass, double bass
Studio performance: Saturday, October 11 at 7:30pm (Sun Hill Studio)

New works for soprano and double bass from a Jamaican Totentanz (Dance of Death) to the emotional realm of emojis to the cutting wit and humor of writer Dorothy Parker

To date, Nina and Edward have cataloged over 170 pieces as part of their “30x’30” project with the goal of finding 30 hours of soprano and double bass repertoire by 2030. Their Yellow Barn residency is held in preparation for Departure Duo’s second album, “Sharp Tongues” featuring commissions from a diverse group of composers. Ranging from a Jamaican Totentanz (Mikhail Johnson’s “Evil’s Peak”) to the emotional realm of emojis (Emily Koh’s “emojicons”), to the cutting wit and humor of writer Dorothy Parker (Sarah Gibson’s The Boys Are There), “Sharp Tongues” represents a collection of major contributions to a steadily growing repertoire.

Quartet Amizia
So Young Choi, Juliette Greer, violins; Rosemary Nelis, viola; Clara Abel, cello
Studio Performance: Monday, November 3, 2025 at 7:30pm (Sun Hill Studio)

An exploration and performance of Robert Schumann’s String Quartet in F Major, Op.41 No.2

Sarah Rommel, cello
The Arioso Project
Big Barn performance: Thursday, November 13 at 7:30pm (The Big Barn)—Request tickets

James Simon's Arioso for solo cello, with new works by five composers (Derrick Skye, Kian Ravaei, Hilary Purrington, Aftab Darvishi, and Rene Orth) that reflect on themes of creativity under oppression and in the context of more relevant and contemporary understandings of adversity

James Simon (1880-1944) was a brilliant pianist and composer whose works are still being unearthed and discovered today. Despite several opportunities to emigrate during World War II, Simon was so devoted to Germany that he remained in his homeland during the war, a decision that would eventually claim his life in the gas chambers of Auschwitz in 1944. It was observed that moments before his death he was seen jotting down what would be the last music he would ever contribute to this world. James Simon’s Ariosofor solo cello, the manuscript of which is currently in the permanent collection of the University of Washington, was written in 1929 and dedicated to the cellist Eva Heinitz. Heinitz emigrated to the United States, eventually making her way to Seattle in 1948 where she would become a much respected and well-known cello professor.

This project aims to make the first commercial recording of Arioso, and to introduce it as an important part of the solo cello canon. Through five commissioned works, it also explores tension and dialogue from the past and connects it to the present, and provides a platform for early-career composers. This project is being supported and funded by the Royalty Research Fund at the University of Washington, the Barlow Foundation, and a private patron with fiscal sponsorship through the American Composers Forum.

—Sarah Rommel

Seth Knopp, piano; Katherine Yoon, violin; Gerard Flotats, cello
Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms: Form and Invention 
Studio performance: Friday, December 12 at 7:30pm (Sun Hill Studio)

A performance of Beethoven’s Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op.70 No. 2, with movements from Mozart’s Piano Trio in E Major, K.542 and Brahms’s Piano Trio in B Major, Op.8

Please Note: This performance will be the culmination of a weeklong exploration of form and listening. Those attending the performance will have the opportunity to participate in three workshops devoted to those pieces. (Workshop dates and times to be announced)

Ize Trio
Chase Morrin, piano; George Lernis, percussion; Naseem Alatrash, cello
Big Barn performance: Friday, December 19 at 7:30pm (The Big Barn)

Original arrangements of traditional Arabic songs from Palestine and Cyprus

Ize Trio is a multi-cultural ensemble drawing influences from Jazz, Classical, and Middle Eastern Music. Our upcoming album “The Global Suites” features original music dedicated to important social causes that unite our trio. Through this residency, we will further the mission of the trio, continuing to hone the nuances of our playing and connection through arranging traditional Arabic songs from Naseem’s home of Palestine and George’s home of Cyprus. In addition, we intend to draw inspiration from these songs and create new compositions inspired by the musical rules that govern them..

—Chase Morrin

Daniel Chong, violin; Jessica Bodner, viola; Daniel Anastasio, piano
with poet Naomi Shihab Nye
Big Barn performance: Saturday, January 31 at 3pm (The Big Barn)

Daniel Chong and Jessica Bodner, both members of the Parker Quartet, are joined by pianist Daniel Anastasio and poet Naomi Shihab Nye for a program of music and poetry in conversation. Blending moments of reflection with bursts of playfulness, this unique collaboration seeks to reveal a new perspective on the emotional core of each piece—musical and poetic—through thoughtful juxtaposition. This program will feature works by Brahms, Bach, Ives, Rebecca Clarke, and Tessa Lark, among others.

Lost Precisely
Tomoki Park and Christine Wu, pianos
with composer Andrés Martínez de Velasco

The newly commissioned Lost Precisely, by Andrés Martínez de Velasco with projected text by Ruby Bilger, tells the humorous story of two pianists who become lost in the concert hall where they are scheduled to perform. In the narrative, they find themselves in an Escher-like building where stairs, corridors, and even fire escapes mysteriously lead back to their starting point. As their disorientation grows, so does their panic, fury, and desperation. These trials are mirrored in the music that the real-life pianists perform, creating a layered, self-referential concert experience.

Please Note: There is no public event associated with this Artist Residency.

Emely Phelps, piano
with composer Tyson Gholston Davis
Studio recording (Sun Hill Studio)

Emely Phelps returns to Yellow Barn to complete recording her solo album, which includes Ruth Crawford Seeger’s preludes from the 1920’s and Elliott Carter’s 1945 piano sonata, as well as the first recordings of two new works: one by Robert McClure, which was written for Phelps, and a new co-commission from Tyson Gholston Davis.

Rachel Schutz, soprano
Xak Bjerken, piano
Studio recording (Sun Hill Studio)

Rachel Schutz returns for the second part of her Artist Residency and completes her recording of 20th- and 21st-century Welsh Art Song.

Katie Lui, viola
with composer Emily Liushen
Studio recording (Sun Hill Studio)

Body Caprices (2026) are a set of five caprices for solo viola that draws from the rich history of the solo string “capriccio” to explore instabilities within human internal systems. The caprice, as a musical form, is defined by its reluctance to obey form itself. Inspired by the stormy, dynamic, and structurally unpredictable violin caprices of George Rochberg, Grażyna Bacewicz, John Corigliano, and Niccolò Paganini, the Body Caprices for viola explore the capriciousness and fragility of the human body.

2023-2024 Residency Season

Quartet Malamatina

The guitar quartet Malamatina, Tim Beattie (Canada), Finlay Hay (Scotland), Ross Morris (England), and Lenny Ranallo (United States), expands on repertoire that they first performed as a group a couple of years ago at the UN Climate Conference, focusing on natural elements and environmentalism.
August 2023

Ortiz the Musician

Composer/Violinist Kier Gogwilt, together with Wilfrido Terrazas (flute), Alec Goldfarb (guitar), and Kyle Motl (double bass), develop Gogwilt's new program of original music inspired by the eponymous Ortiz— a shadowy figure mentioned in Alejo Carpentier’s monograph on music in Cuba.
September 2023

Callisto Quartet

The Callisto String Quartet comes to Yellow Barn to learn Lift by Paul Wiancko. Their residency culminates with a performance of Lift together with Ravel's string quartet.
October 2023

Luke Hsu, Rainer Crosett, and Yehuda Inbar

The piano trio returns for the second of their two Artist Residencies.
May 2023

Darshan Trio

2022-2023 Residency Season

River Spirits

Composer and soprano Susan Botti, in collaboration with sopranos Lucy Shelton and Mary Bonhag, as well as instrumentalists from the Folger and 21st Century Consorts, and from Yellow Barn, rehearse and perform a concert version of Botti's new chamber opera. In allegorical fashion, the story portrays the tension of uncontrolled expression within a community, as well as the healing power of compassion and love. The texts (created/compiled by Botti) are a mix of languages, sounds, "nonsense", and music – in layers of fragmented meaning. From a musical standpoint, this word setting is reminiscent of Medieval motets, operatic aria, and “grammelot” (the language of the Commedia dell’Arte).
September 2022

2021-2022 Residency Season

Merz Trio

Merz Trio and mover / mime / director Emma Jaster embark on a collaborative exploration of music and movement: how the differing art forms inform and speak to one another. Drawing from an eclectic repertoire (Korngold, Price, Matteis, Vasks, Bolcom, Schubert, Poulenc, Britten, Enescu, Thelonius Monk), the Trio will work towards create a dynamic program of musical miniatures interwoven with Emma's own storytelling through movement and gesture.
November 2021

Kristin Gornstein and Jeremy Chan

Kristin Gornstein (soprano) and Jeremy Chan (piano), together with composers Robert Balaguer and Max Johnson, explore new repertoire in advance of making a recording in Sun Hill Studio with engineer Judith Sherman.
November 2021 and May 2022

20 Minutes of Action

Sandbox Percussion with vocalists Elspeth Davis and Melissa Wimbish work alongside composer Jessica Meyer to develop an hour-long program for two vocalists and percussion quartet. The central work is Jessica Meyer’s 20 minutes of action, a work commissioned for this program and scored for all six performers. In 2016, the trial of Brock Turner was yet another controversial episode in an ongoing debate about rape culture, privilege in the criminal justice system, and campus safety. In court, Chanel Miller read aloud a letter to her attacker that has since been read millions of times and has influenced legislation in California. This new work will be a setting of select quotes from the letter Chanel Miller read aloud in court to Brock Turner. Jessica plans to set specific sentences from the letter as well as text from Chanel’s recently published memoir, Know My Name.
December 2021

2019-2020 Residency Season

The WholeHearted Musician
Weeklong workshop for the Argus and Omer Quartets with career consultant, psychotherapist, and former concert cellist Dana Fonteneau
September 2019

Morton Feldman: Second String Quartet
Exploration and performance by the Lassus Quartet
November 2019

Three Enigmas: Kern
Development and performance of the first "chapter" of a three-part composition by Marcos Balter for cellist Jay Campbell and pianist Conor Hannick
November 2019

The Music Alliance Project
Repertoire exploration and performance by jazz duo Cordelia Tapping (vocals) and Chase Morrin (piano), together with Yellow Barn musicians flutist Rosie Gallagher and cellist John Myerscough, and harpist Charles Overton
February 2020

Duo-ING: Refractions
Violinist Ying Xue and pianist Qing Jiang; Exploration and performance of sonatas of J.S. Bach and Ravel, juxtaposed with works written over the past decade by Tonia Ko, Eric Nathan, Sean Shepherd, and Daniel Temkin
February 2020

2018-2019 residency season

Go Placidly with Haste
Development and performance of a new work by composer and percussionist Jason Treuting
December 2018

Songs of Earthly and Divine Inspiration
Soprano Kristina Bachrach and pianist Daniel Anastasio; Performance of works by Messiaen and Knussen 
January 2019

Salon Séance
Development and performance of a new program, "Britten and Auden’s Personal War”
February 2019

Refractions: Works for Violin and Piano
Violinist Ying Xue and pianist Qing Jiang; Works by Bach, Ravel, Tonia Ko, Eric Nathan, Sean Shepherd, and Daniel Temkin
March 2019

Meeting in the Middle
Soprano/double bass duo Departure Duo; Newly commissioned works by Jesse Diener-Bennett, Emily Praetorius, and Adam Kennaugh
March 2019

2017-2018 RESIDENCY SEASON

Some Favored Nook
Eric Nathan, composer, with soprano Jessica River, baritone Andrew Garland, and pianist Molly Morkoski; Development, performance, and audio/video recording of a new oratorio based on the poetry of Emily Dickinson (libretto by Mark Campbell)
September 2017

Musical Offering
Bach’s Music Offering with Lei Liang’s Garden 8; Performances in Putney, New York, and Dallas
January 2018

Permanent Red
Violinist Brigid Coleridge and pianist Lee Dionne; Development and performance of a multi-media recital inspired by scenes from Christopher Logue’s infamous re-imagining of Homer’s Illiad
February 2018

Stop. Make Sense.
Composer and percussionist Jason Treuting, with multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Beth Meyers; Development and workshop performance of a new work
February 2018

Songs of Resistance
The Westerlies with composer Theo Bleckmann; Newly commissioned works from composers of varying backgrounds reflecting different perspectives on the current political climate, and music of past movements of political resistance
June 2018

2016-2017 Residency Season

Paddle to the Sea
Works for percussion ensemble by Philip Glass, John Luther Adams, and Jacob Druckman, as well as original compositions by Third Coast
November 2016

The classic children’s book and Academy Award-nominated film Paddle to the Sea is the focus of a new performance project that looks at our relationship to the bodies of water that connect our lives.

Honoring Enrique Granados (1867-1916)
Works by Granados and Moya
December 2016

The years 2016 and 2017 mark a double-anniversary for the great Spanish composer Enrique Granados: the 100th anniversary of his untimely death in 1916, and the 150th anniversary of his birth in 1867. Granados is often cited particularly as a composer for the piano, but his lesser-known songs are also a seminal achievement.

Faithful to the Spirit
Works by Brahms, Chausson, and Dvořák
March 2017

Despite the interest in historical performance, mainstream performers have largely ignored the hardest evidence of all: early recordings. These performances, often made by contemporaries of or in consultation with composers, may tell us something about the spirit of music making that a composer’s words and notation cannot.

Das heiße Herz (The Hot Heart)
Works by Widmann and Schumann
April 2017

Jörg Widmann, Yellow Barn’s Composer in Residence, returns to Putney to work with baritone William Sharp and pianist Seth Knopp, as they prepare for the North American premiere of Das heiße Herz, Widmann’s song cycle inspired by Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe.

2015-2016 RESIDENCY SEASON

Breath and Hammer
Works for clarinet, piano, and electronics by Krakauer, Tagg, Zorn, and more 
September 2015

This project expands the concept of the clarinet and piano recital by taking simple songs from folk and improvisation-based traditions and re-imagining them for clarinet, piano, and electronics. Creating something orchestral in scope, David Krakauer and Kathleen Tagg will draw upon a rich variety of source material, including South African and klezmer traditions, "tunes" from Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, and “downtown” contemporary music from New York composer John Zorn, as well as original compositions by Krakauer and Tagg born out of their exposure to a multitude of cultures and traditions.

So you want to write a fugue? 
Works for string quartet by Bach, Haydn, Harbison, and Beethoven
October 2015

Since Johann Sebastian Bach, the musical form of the fugue has represented the ultimate challenge of counterpoint in which the composer must strike that intricate balance between each voice’s individual integrity and its role within the greater whole. Similarly, the string quartet is a medium that inherently balances between the unity of the homogenous collective and the expressive individuality of four independent voices. Following the fugue’s full maturation in the works of Bach, composers have used the string quartet as a vessel to explore the form and mold it to each of their compositional styles. The Telegraph Quartet explores the fugue and its evolution from Bach to our time, through Bach’s Art of Fugue, works of Haydn and Harbison, and Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, the apotheosis of the fugue through the string quartet.

A Thousand Cranes
Works for strings and harp by Theofanidis, Widmann, Hersant, and Bach
December 2015

2014-2015 Residency Season

In Return for My Song: Tonalities at once ancient and new
Works for string quartet and percussion by Beethoven, Berio, Dun, Harvey, Olson, Rzewski, Webern, and Wood
December 2014

The play of tension and release is a vitally important element in our experience of music, and tonality, the hierarchical relationship between pitches or harmonies, is one framework that guides us. Much is asked of an audience experiencing new works with sounds that are less familiar but the ear is quick and can adapt to new sounds when context is there to guide us. Percussionist Ian Rosenbaum and the Parker Quartet lead us on a sonic adventure through tonalities at once ancient and new.

Madness and Betrayal
Works for string quartet and soprano by Brett Dean and Arnold Schoenberg
February 2015

Two string quartets with soprano form the cornerstone of this residency. Apart from the superficial pairing of two like ensembles, these are works that both wrestle with the most difficult of human circumstance; betrayal, madness, and suicide. Brett Dean’s examination of the plight of Shakespeare’s Ophelia and Schoenberg’s expression of his own very painful biography in the composition of his 2nd string quartet introduce the elements of objectivity and subjectivity in how we create and experience art.

Allison Bell, soprano; Anthony Marwood and Magnus Johnston, violins; Brett Dean, viola; Fernando Arias, cello

Music on the Brink of War
Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire and songs of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht
May 2015

While Arnold Schoenberg embraced new techniques to frame his work and stretch the listener’s imagination, Kurt Weill sought to frame the realities of modern society with music that reflects its popular culture. Both Schoenberg and Weill (with dramatist Bertolt Brecht) found the cabaret to be an environment well-suited to work that blurred the lines separating art and popular music, and the socialist and capitalist worlds to which their music reacted.

Lucy Shelton, soprano; Liza Sadovy, actor; Walter van Dyk, actor; David McCarroll, violin; Michael Kannen, cello; Elizabeth Burns, double bass; Sooyun Kim, flute; Alan Kay, clarinet; Caleb Hudson, trumpet; Michael Hosford, trombone; Oren Fader, guitar; Michael Haslam, keyboard; Seth Knopp, piano; Eduardo Leandro, percussion

2013-2014 Residency Season

Xiang Yu and Mei Rui
September 2013

In anticipation of presenting the season-opening concert at the Louvre on September 19, 2013 violinist Xiang Yu and Yellow Barn alumna pianist Mei Rui were in residence preparing the works included on their program: Beethoven's Sonata in E-flat Major, Debussy’s Sonata in G Minor, Brahms's Sonata in D Minor, two works by Symanowski, and a new work by Eric Nathan, which had its first performance in Putney and then traveled to Paris for its European premiere.

Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of President Kennedy’s Death
November 2013

Honoring President Kennedy, Yellow Barn presented a program in which words, seeking to comprehend the complexities of that time, find illumination in the music of Olivier Messiaen and John Cage, and One Red Rose, a new work by Steven Mackey co-commissioned by Yellow Barn with the Nasher Sculpture Center and Carnegie Hall. In remembrance of a day one half-century ago, this program was developed in residence at Yellow Barn by the Brentano String Quartet, clarinetist Charles Neidich, and pianist Seth Knopp, and then presented in Dallas at the Nasher Sculpture Center on the day after the anniversary, followed by a special performance and worldwide broadcast of One Red Rose from the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

The Sarajevo Haggadah: Music of the Book
March 2014

A people freed from enslavement, the miraculous Jewish exodus from Egypt is the story told in the Haggadah, the book of prayer central to the ritual feast of Passover. Spanning six centuries and the breadth of Europe, saved from destruction by people of many faiths—the history of the Sarajevo Haggadah is one that is as miraculous as the Biblical one that lies within it. Accordionist and composer Merima Ključo returned to Yellow Barn with video artist Bart Woodstrup and pianist Seth Knopp, creating a new work that illuminates a tale of heroism in the face of violence, born out of deep respect for traditions that are not our own.

The Russian Soul—The Russian Voice
May 2014

Trio Cleonice came to Putney to explore two great masterworks of the 19th and 20th Centuries, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio and Shostakovich's 2nd Piano Trio, in the context of Russian literature and the Russian language. Guided by mentors from both fields, Trio Cleonice explored not only these two beloved Russian piano trios, but parallel works of fiction: Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov alongside Tchaikovsky; Zoshchenko and Bulgakov alongside Shostakovich. Studying the linguistic characteristics of Russian, as well as the way both authors and composers navigate the “cursed questions” that plagued 19th-century Russia (What is the meaning of life? Who is responsible for this? Why are we here?), provided an even deeper backdrop against which to study and experiment, yielding a more meaningful, more uniquely Russian take on these epic piano trios.

Momenta Quartet
May 2014

Since its founding in 2004, the Momenta Quartet has been exploring new ways of expanding the tradition of the string quartet, presenting works by living composers of diverse musical backgrounds and cultures that are often underrepresented or unknown in this country, including 75 world premieres. Their residency at Yellow Barn took them down a different path with works by Debussy and Ives, two forward-thinking composers who revolutionized the musical traditions of their own times. Momenta focused on Debussy's String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10, a masterpiece of the string quartet canon that broke the traditional rules of harmony and structure, greatly influencing string quartet writing of the 20th Century; and Ives’s String Quartet No. 2, a piece intended to shake up what the composer perceived to be an overly effete tradition of string quartet performance.

2012-2013 Residency Season

Our Local Schools: Music of time and place
September and December 2012, April 2013

Under the auspices of Chamber Music America, this residency brought curriculums created by Due East (flutist Erin Lesser and percussionist Greg Beyer) to public school students in the Putney community. Building upon Putney Central School’s commitment to respecting and exploring its own environment, Due East, together with composer Elainie Lillios, inspired 8th-grade students to listen with new awareness, incorporating sounds of nature from their world into poetry and using familiar technology to create musical vignettes out of what they have heard and written. At Brattleboro Union High School, a fundamentally strong music program allowed Due East to unite classroom and music studio through the study of Brazilian texts and culture, and the performance of a chamber concerto based on Brazil’s musical heritage written by Mr. Beyer for the indigenous berimbau, wind ensemble, and choir.

The Jasper String Quartet
December 2012

The Jasper String Quartet came to Yellow Barn to focus on two masterpieces of the chamber music repertoire: Mendelssohn’s F Minor string quartet and Beethoven’s Opus 131. Recipients of the 2012 Cleveland Quartet Award, the Jasper String Quartet spent their 10-day residency preparing these works for concerts associated with the award, in concentrated sessions with mentoring musicians, and in performance.

Utopia/Dystopia
January 2013

Utopia/Dystopia, a work conceived by composers David Smooke and Ken Ueno, harpist Jacqueline Pollauf, and saxophonist Noah Getz, considers how the harp and saxophone might have developed in alternative worlds where physical limitations of portability and practicality create little concern, where the deranged dreams of insane innovators can be brought to sonic life. During their week in Putney, the artists of Utopia/Dystopia began their work, exploring the possibilities of sculpture, movement and drama derived from an imagined history of perfect euphony and noisy failures.

Counterpoint: Structure and improvisation
February 2012

Cellist Jay Campbell and pianist Conor Hanick explored the dialogue between the unbridled imagination of the Baroque and our contemporary world, finding complement and contrast in the rigorous, structurally rich writing of J.S. Bach and Charles Wuorinen and the more intuitive and improvisatory C.P.E. Bach and Matthias Pintscher. Premieres of new works by composers Wei-Chieh Lin and David Fulmer added new voice to this counterpoint.

Cuatro Corridos: Four ballades from the U.S. – Mexico border
March 2013

Cuatro Corridos is a new chamber opera addressing human trafficking across the U.S. – Mexico border. The telling of a story based on true events from the perspectives of four women brought a group of Mexican and American artists together, and they began their work at Yellow Barn. The composers (Lei Liang, Hilda Paredes, Hebert Sandrin, and Arlene Sierra), the ensemble (soprano Susan Narucki, guitarist Pablo Gomez, pianist Aleck Karis, and percussionist Ayano Kataoka) and librettist Jorge Volpi, work in residence in Putney. Led by Ms. Narucki and Mr. Volpi, this chamber opera is becoming the centerpiece of an effort to heighten public awareness about human trafficking and encouraging social activism wherever the work is performed. In Putney, this included discussions in the community, including on campus at the Greenwood School, where this residency inspired its faculty to make human rights a central theme for the year’s curriculum.

Remembering 9/11 Through New Music
June 2013

Family members from Tuesday’s Children, an organization committed to providing long-term support and services for the children of 9/11, participate in a residency within Yellow Barn’s Young Artist Program, participating with its musicians (composers and performers ages 13-20) in the process of creating new music that memorializes and brings unique perspective to the events of 9/11. Staff members from the 9/11 Memorial and Museum and Tuesday’s Children join composers Stephen Coxe, Stephen Mackey, and Christopher Theofanidis in guiding this collaboration.

2011-2012 Residency Season

Intimate Letters: Cultural outrage and personal tragedy from Mahler to slam poetry
September 2011

In the mid-1980s, three decades after the flowering of the Beat Generation brought us Alan Ginsburg’s rhythmic, streaming lament Howl, a poetry appeared in a Chicago jazz club that shared the riveting qualities of it predecessor. In this residency, slam poets from Stockton, California (ages 17-24) joined baritone William Sharp, pianist Seth Knopp, and the Parker Quartet to create a program combining poetry and music from Kurtág, Mahler, Janáček, and Lee Hyla.

The Beethoven Sonatas for cello and piano
December 2011 and April 2012

Beethoven's five Sonatas for Cello and Piano form the cornerstone of repertoire for that instrumental partnership. Between the two early sonatas, written at the height of his pianistic powers, the great A Major Sonata composed in the wake of his tragic Heiligenstadt Testament, and his two late sonatas, Beethoven revolutionizes the nature of that relationship, creating works that for the first time treat cello and piano as equal partners. Cellist Alice Yoo and pianist Roman Rabinovich explored these great works during their two weeks in residence.

The Crumb Madrigals Project
March 2012

In this now famous series of works, Crumb sets fragments of beautiful poetry by the Spanish surrealist, Federico García Lorca (1898-1936). The succinct, ethereal texts evoke strong visual possibilities. The musicians of the Madrigals Project (Mary Bonhag, soprano, Erin Lesser, flutes, Evan Premo, bass, Jacqueline Kerrod, harp, and Greg Beyer, percussion) collaborated with video artist Bart Woodstrup to expand the musical cycle with video images meant to subtly highlight both music and text.

Grisey’s Le Noir de l’Etoile
May 2012

In 1967, a young astronomer detected in the heavens a rapidly varying radio signal, in the form of periodic impulses 1.3 seconds apart. The discovery caused a sensation. The impulses were so regular that for a while they were taken to be signals coming from extraterrestrial civilizations. Then astrophysicists revealed a truth that was just as surprising: the signals were being emitted by a pulsar, the fantastic compact residue created by the supernova explosions that long ago disintegrated the massive stars. More than twenty years later, inspired by this discovery and those sounds, the composer Gérard Grisey wrote Le Noir de l’Etoile, for six percussionists placed around an audience.

2010-2011 Residency Season

Checkpoint KBK
September 2010

Checkpoint KBK brought together for the first time clarinetist David Krakauer, violinist/vocalist Iva Bittová, and concert accordionist Merima Ključo. For eight days they experimented with new repertoire, uniting their remarkable range of musical styles and backgrounds in bringing a new musical entity to life. Influences from the cultural heritage of each of these performers came into play with improvisation and original compositions to create a provocative statement about a shared central European identity.

Transcribing Bach and Shostakovich
October 2010

Flutist Zara Lawler and marimbist Paul Fadoul came to Putney to focus on the preludes and fugues of Bach and Shostakovich. Shostakovich's effort is, in itself, an act of supreme devotion to Bach, and together with pianist Christina Dahl, the Fadoul/Lawler Duo furthered that tradition of devotion through transcription while enriching the literature for their ensemble with these celebrated works.

Eight Songs for a Mad King
November 2010

In partnership with the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, TX, Yellow Barn presented a staged performance of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King, his chamber music tour de force vividly depicting the tragic insanity of King George III. British actor Kelvin Thomas, violinist Curtis Macomber, clarinetist Alan Kay, cellist Claire Bryant, pianist Ilya Poletkaev, and percussionist Greg Beyer developed their performance in Putney, and then traveled to Dallas where they launched the inaugural season of Nasher Sculpture Center's concert series “Soundings: New Music at the Nasher”.

Exploring the Beethoven Quartets
April and May 2011

In two residency weeks the Jupiter Quartet prepared itself to perform the Beethoven string quartets, one of the defining experiences in the life of any string quartet. The six concerts they presented during their residency were given in anticipation of their performance of the complete cycle at the 2011 Aspen Music Festival.

Pilot Residencies

The 2008 Election: Debate and Elliott Carter's 2nd String Quartet
November 2008

Just days after the 2008 presidential election, the Ariel Quartet came to Yellow Barn for an 8-day residency culminating in a weekend of concerts and political discussions, including a special presentation of Elliott Carter’s second string quartet. This inaugural residency featured special guests pianist Roman Rabinovich, clarinetist Charles Neidich, and political scientist Adam Sheingate.

The Parker Quartet
October 2009

In the early stages of their career, the Parker Quartet spent a week in Putney developing a program of Beethoven, Bartók, and Mendelssohn.

György Kurtág’s “Kafka Fragments”
March 2010

Yellow Barn, in partnership with New England Conservatory, hosted a week-long workshop focusing on Kafka Fragments, György Kurtág’s monumental seventy-minute song cycle for soprano and violin based on texts of Franz Kafka. Eight violinists and sopranos participated in this workshop led by violinist Violaine Melançon and soprano Susan Narucki, experienced interpreters of Kurtág’s work. Eminent Kafka scholar, Stanley Corngold of Princeton University, joined the musicians during the workshop, helping to illuminate the interpretive process with discussions on Kafka and his writings.