Event

The Crumb Madrigals Project

Former Yellow Barn Ensemble-in-Residence Due East (Greg Beyer, percussion, and Erin Lesser, flutes) joins forces with Duo Borealis (Evan Primo, bassist/composer, and Mary Bonhag, soprano) and harpist Jacqui Kerrod to spend a week in residence at Yellow Barn to study the George Crumb masterwork, Madrigals Books I-IV. These five musicians will take the time to create, reflect upon and refine a memorized and semi-theatrical interpretation of this half-hour long cycle, written in the 1965 (Books I and II) and 1969 (Books III and IV).

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 Madrigal Project will collaborate with video artist, Bart Woodstrup and Lorca scholar, Christopher Maurer, to expand the musical project with video images meant to subtly highlight both music and text. The residency promises to yield an interpretation and performance of this major American work that is both exquisitely detailed and visually elegant and engaging.

Following the 30-minute performance the artists will join the audience for a post-concert discussion and reception