With a pre-concert talk, by Marit Eleanore Shuman, at 5:15pm.
Join us for a performance of Morton Feldman’s vulnerable, exquisite evening-length duo work “For John Cage.” Like nearly all of Feldman’s late work, the piece’s runtime and quiet dynamic palette create what Alex Ross called "an overarching, protective space around a vulnerable huddle of sounds,” producing “an enormous, ominous serenity." The reverberant space at St. Paul’s Chapel provides a special opportunity to experience this rarely performed minimalist masterpiece live.
Magpie Duo (Lauren Conroy, violin; Matthew Schultheis, piano) is a new performance project focusing on Western concert music of the past hundred years. Named after the bird long known in Western folklore for its obsessive and curious trinket-collecting, our concerts draw from a wide array of stylistic periods, tying together works from across cultural and generational lines. Lauren is a graduate of the Juilliard school (MM ’22); Matthew is currently a doctoral candidate there. Upcoming events this season include a 2026 album release with composer James Díaz and a residency at Avaloch Farm Music Institute.
Live at St. Paul’s Chapel — or, watch on YouTube.
If you don’t have a current Columbia ID, you MUST register by clicking the blue "register" button below. (Please do not use the same email address to register multiple people; this will confuse the system.) Registration will close at 11am sharp the day before the concert.