PUTNEY — On Tuesday, Sept. 29, performances inside the Big Barn and outside on a wooded trail will be the focus of the week's Yellow Barn Patio Noise, a series of interactive programming conversations led by Artistic Director Seth Knopp.
Taking a look at Yellow Barn's concert stream from July 25, audience members will have the opportunity to talk to Yellow Barn musicians, and one another, about a program that explores interactions between love and nature from Amy Beth Kirsten's “ yes I said yes I will Yes,” based on the final chapter of James Joyce's Ulysses, to Toshio Hosokawa's “Windscapes” for two percussionists performed outdoors.
Joining Knopp will be musicians from the concert, including Vermont-based saxophonist Travis Laplante, who gave the premiere performance of his new work “The Obvious Place.”
“While composing 'The Obvious Place,' I had one of the most beautiful experiences of my life here in Putney,” Laplante said in a news release. “I was struggling with writer's block when I saw a broad-winged hawk staring directly into my eyes. She was obviously listening to the sounds and responding by rhythmically moving her body in an otherworldly way.
“In that moment, I could feel that birds and humans once shared a common language, and that it is still possible to remember and participate in this communication today if one is willing to be trained. Through this music I hope to convey our longing for forgotten love.”
The online event also includes an exploration of Yellow Barn's outdoor performance site, the Beethoven Walks trail at the Greenwood School, an idea conceived by Knopp and brought to life by Yellow Barn at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Beethoven Walks incorporates hundreds of reproductions of the composer's sketches, or leaves from his autograph manuscripts, bannered on trees. A special app designed by Yellow Barn prompts people to listen to the musical works corresponding with these sketches and manuscripts.
Said one visitor, “It left our hearts soaring with the same feeling that a live performance brings - the adventure of not knowing what's around the corner, of giving over to an experience.” And another, “While in the forest, I forgot about the pandemic for the first time since it started.”
Additional guests this week include percussionists Ayano Kataoka and Eduardo Leandro, sopranos Lucy Fitz Gibbon and Lucy Shelton, and double bassist Lizzie Burns.