Our 2024 Season

What does it feel like to be “Untethered”?

What does it feel like to be “Untethered”? The Festival delves into that exploration of freedom from multiple angles. Expressions of artistic bravery are found in Isabella Leonarda’s 17th century Op. 12 No. 5, the first set of sonatas published by a woman. Her work contrasts with Kevin Day’s inward exploration of identity in The Essence of Being and Maurice Ravel’s sensuously elegant, utterly original String Quartet.

“Untethered” also suggests feelings of play, flight, and weightlessness. Christine Southworth brings these ideas alive in her work, Honey Flyers, which highlights the unique flight, work, and community of honeybees. From a completely different angle, Day’s Birds in the Cathedral is a discovery of serenity; standing in a New York City cathedral, experiencing great anxiety for the future, Day observed a flock of birds aloft in the vast open ceiling and found that the knot of worry was loosened, replaced by a sense of peace.

Few composers allow a melody to take to the wing like Haydn—in his much loved “Lark” quartet, the violin soars like the most delicate of songbirds. Similarly, Franz Schubert’s Quartet in A Minor “Rosamunde” captures delicate, floating textures, despite the burdens weighing him down.

This summer’s festival season will also feature two world premieres: Kevin Day’s Transit for soprano and string quartet (inspired by the way that frequent air travel demands caused the composer to question his priorities and passions and look for a slower pace of life) and a brand new arrangement for soprano and string quartet of Astor Piazzolla’s haunting milonga, Oblivion.