PUTNEY-Yellow Barn's 56th summer season continues Thursday through Saturday, July 17–19, with three performances and violist Kim Kashkashian's annual masterclass in the Big Barn.
Thursday, July 17, brings the premiere performance of young composer Francisco Lucena Pais's work for soprano, strings, winds, and percussion. Led by soprano Lucy Shelton, and violinist Dale Barltrop of the Australian String Quartet, Pais's work expresses the sounds and Fado melodies indicative of his native Portugal.
Pais is in residence this week, working with the ensemble and being a member of the Yellow Barn international community. Preceding his new work will be compositions by Mozart: the Flute Quartet in D major, Piano Quartet in G minor, and Variations in G major for Piano Four-Hands.
Also on Thursday, Yellow Barn offers the first pre-concert musicians' talk of the season led by Artistic Director Seth Knopp. Pre-concert talks take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Big Barn pavilion.
Thursday Festival Concerts, which are free in memory of Putney resident and audience member Eva Mondon, are Yellow Barn's "side-by-side" nights. In the Big Barn, musicians typically are seated in the loft, but on these nights, some sit among audience members, and in turn, a portion of audience members share the loft side-by-side with musicians, giving everyone an opportunity to listen with companions from a different perspective.
Friday night's program includes two early works by Arnold Schoenberg: his Four Songs for soprano and "Verklärte Nacht" for string sextet. The evening concludes with Messiaen's seminal "Quartet for the End of Time."
Following Kashkashian's morning masterclass, week two's concluding program on Saturday night includes a work for "salon orchestra" by the Argentinian composer Mauricio Kagel. On the flip side, Saturday offers two works with harpsichord: "La Sultanne" by François Couperin, and Bach's "Brandenburg" Concerto No. 6.
Yellow Barn values all audience members and will make efforts to accommodate all circumstances. Its "Pay What You Can" program makes a certain number of reduced-priced tickets available for each concert.
Full program details are available online at yellowbarn.org. Tickets can be purchased or reserved online or by calling 802-387-6637. Festival Concerts are generally 2 to 2 1/2 hours in length, including an intermission with ice cream and blueberries for all to enjoy.
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