Putting the Madrigals project in context
Stephen Smoliar writes for the Classical Music Examiner:
Want to learn about George Crumb? Go to Vermont!
The American composer George Crumb has received almost no attention in my efforts to write about performances of music. Yesterday I received word from Yellow Barn of their own small effort to reverse this trend. Yellow Barn is a center for the study and performance of chamber music founded in 1969 and run by Artistic Director Seth Knopp. The center is located in Putney, Vermont; and, in spite of this remote location, they have achieved international recognition for their residencies, workshops, and adventurous approaches to chamber music.
Press for Soundings and Yellow Barn
Gegory Isaacs writes for Arts & Culture Magazine North Texas:
In 2010, the Nasher Sculpture Center added a chamber music series to its many other offerings. In keeping with the eclectic quality of its art collection, Nasher’s Director Jeremy Strick, wanted something completely different so he turned to Seth Knopp, a founding member of the award-winning Peabody Trio and artistic director of Yellow Barn, an internationally recognized chamber music study and performance program in Putney, Vermont.“Soundings: New Music at the Nasher,” is the happy result. Now in its second season, the nearly sold out series has intrigued and delighted classical, as well as world music buffs, throughout North Texas.Knopp and Yellow Barn have been integral to this effort right from the start. This internationally respected music center is a hotbed of musical innovation and ongoing musical exploration. Its principal activities are a five-week summer chamber music festival/training program for young professional musicians, a training program for high school instrumentalists and composers and a year round series of artist residencies and workshops.
Crumb Madrigals video preview
In a short video Bart Woodstrup gives insight into his process and a preview of some of the images created for the March 24th performance.
Behind the Crumb Madrigals Project
Due East is thrilled to be joining Duo Borealis and harpist, Jacqui Kerrod, to mount this multi-media production of George Crumb's Madrigals with video artist Bart Woodstrup. We gathered together in early January in our cozy Bronx apartment to begin working on the music. Everyone sounds fantastic and there is a lot of natural chemistry between the ensemble. Erin was at the center of the network, as she had worked with Evan in Carnegie's Academy program and with Jacqui in a "Debussy" trio. In just days we were able to take successful first passes at all four books. It was a joy.
Our video artist, Bart Woodstrup, is a colleague of mine here at Northern Illinois University and we applied for and received an inaugural internal grant specifically geared for this sort of multi-media collaborative project. We have used our funds to purchase three matching video projectors and a video card that allows these projectors to be controlled by one computer. Bart has been steadfastly developing content that lends color and added depth to the poetic language of Garcia Lorca, whose poetry runs throughout Crumb's cycle.
Furthermore Bart and I have begun developing materials to build portable video screens to take on tour with us. This will allow us to create a three-dimensional video environment for the work; rather than only projecting on a singular flat surface behind and above the stage, as is typically the case with multi-media musical productions. Ideas in this regard are still nascent and "in progress" and we are thrilled at the idea of taking a week in mid-March at Yellow Barn to flush out logistics and meld it into our interpretive take on these haunting yet starkly beautiful works.
A big shout out to Seth Knopp, Catherine Stephan and the rest of Team Yellow Barn for making this upcoming residency possible! We are so thankful to have the opportunity and cannot wait to put poetry in motion. We hope you'll consider joining us on Saturday, March 24th, for our first performance of this project. It promises to be unique and beautiful.
Signing out,
Greg
Yellow Barn's 2012 Summer Artwork
Nancy Storrow, Some Songs (pastel & gouache, 2009-10)
I usually listen to music when I work. I feel there is an underlying relationship between my drawing and music. In the drawing Some Songs there is movement, a rhythm to the lines and the notes of a story. The overlay of gouache repeats the circular shapes.
About Nancy Storrow
Nancy Storrow lives in Putney, Vermont. She is represented by A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn, NY where she has had nine solo exhibitions. Her work has been exhibited throughout the US, as well as in group exhibitions in Hungary and Sweden. Recent solo exhibitions include Dianich Gallery, Brattleboro, VT; A.I.R. Gallery; Brattleboro Museum & Art Center; The Steinhardt Gallery of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden; and the group exhibition Linear Abstraction at The Hebrew Home, Riverdale, NY. Her work will be included in a new exhibition at A.I.R. Gallery in June 2012.
Storrow is involved with local environmental and arts organizations in Vermont and she serves on the board of The In-Sight Photography Project in Brattleboro. In addition she has volunteered eleven times at Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where she works in the Public Relations Department.
WGBH features Yellow Barn
As part of its survey of summer festivals in New England, WGBH provides an in-depth look at Yellow Barn:
Experiments In Chamber Music At Vermont's Yellow Barn
This week on Classical New England's music festival travelogue, we take you to secluded Putney, Vermont, for a helping of programs at the prestigious Yellow Barn, a cooperative institute for chamber musicians.
The Yellow Barn festival is really a seven-week summer season, which, for 2012, runs from June 17 to August 4. This reputed destination for chamber music aficionados, started in 1969, primarily exists as a place for seasoned musicians to expand their skills and for conservatory students to learn from the masters. But fortunately for the public, this process involves a varietty of performances.
Every summer, musicians descend on this small southern Vermont location for a host of programs: they work with local schools, participate in masterclasses, and offer interactive presentations to the community.
And, yes, performances are held in a barn, among other locations around Putney. There have been more than one of these barns over the years, but the present "Big Barn" is a warm and intimate environment for a concert.
Read more, view photos, and listen to an interview with Seth Knopp.