PUTNEY-On Friday, July 11, Yellow Barn opens the doors for its 56th Summer Music Festival. More than 70 musicians representing 17 countries will travel to Putney for five weeks of chamber music, including 19 concerts and five master classes in the Big Barn.
This season's repertoire spans 300 years, from Couperin to new works composed specifically for this season.
For opening night, Artistic Director Seth Knopp has programmed "Sounds of Earth," live and recorded performances from the Golden Record, which traveled with Voyager I and II in 1977 to potentially convey a cross section of music, art, culture, and data for extraterrestrial beings.
Travis Laplante and Sam Suggs have each composed works in response to songs contributed to the Golden Record from Bulgaria and New Guinea.
Two of Yellow Barn's beloved longtime faculty members will be honored with new works this year: An arrangement of Charles Ives' 2nd Symphony for piano four-hands performed by the Yellow Barn pianists for pianist Gilbert Kalish, and two new works for soprano Lucy Shelton, by Stephen Coxe and the 20-year-old Portuguese composer Francisco Lucena Pais.
At its heart an educational institution for lifelong learning, Yellow Barn approaches listening in new ways, often leading to unexpected performances. For the first time at Yellow Barn, four young musicians, ages 11 to 15, will join the series' musicians for the preparation and performance of two works.
"This project is dedicated to the concept of the Beginner's Mind, the openness of 'exploring' rather than the narrowness of 'knowing,'" says Knopp.
Another first for Yellow Barn will be the performance of David Ives' Enigma Variations, a comedy for five actors in which a pair of lookalikes named Bebe W.W. Doppel-gängler solve an identity crisis with the help of Dr. William W. Williams and his nurse Fifi. Actor/Director Walter Van Dyk will be in residence for three weeks, joining four Yellow Barn musicians in the rehearsal and performance of the work.
Yellow Barn values all audience members and will make efforts to accommodate all circumstances. Its "Pay What You Can" program reserves some reduced-priced tickets for each concert. Thursday night concerts are free in memory of Putney resident and audience member Eva Mondon.
Thursdays are also "side-by-side nights," when audience members are welcome to sit in the musicians' loft, and musicians sit among audience members on the floor.
Festival Concerts are generally 2 to 2.5 hours in length, including an intermission with ice cream and blueberries. Full program details are available at yellowbarn.org. Tickets can be purchased or reserved online or by calling 802-387-6637.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.