COMPOSER SPOTLIGHT: DANA LYN

Brooklyn-based musician Dana Lyn has performed at New York’s Lincoln Center, Beacon Theater, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Carnegie Hall and Town Hall, as well as folk festivals and dive bars the world over. A violinist/fiddler, violist, pianist and enthusiastic bass player, she is at home in a wide range of musical genres and has worked with Tony Award-winning musicians Stew and Heidi Rodewald, actor-directors Ethan Hawke and Vincent D’Onofrio, Imani Uzuri, Somi, D’Angelo and the Vanguard, 2017 MacArthur Fellow Taylor Mac, Bruce Springsteen, the Elysian Fields, Irish poet Louis de Paor, Killer Mike and the Walkmen. As a composer, she has received commissions from the Brooklyn Rider, the National Arts Council of Ireland, the Inception Orchestra, the Apple Hill String Quartet, the Portland Chamber Music Festival, A Far Cry, the Irish Arts Center, Palaver Strings and the New Orchestra of Washington, among others. Dana arranged the English Fiddle Tunes featured on this program. LEARN MORE

COMPOSER SPOTLIGHT: ERROLLYN WALLEN

Born in Belize, Errollyn Wallen gave up her training at the Dance Theater of Harlem, New York to study composition at the universities of London and Cambridge. She founded her own Ensemble X, and its motto "We don’t break down barriers in music… we don’t see any" reflects her genuine, free-spirited approach and eclectic musicianship. She has been commissioned by outstanding music institutions from the BBC to the Royal Opera House and performed her songs internationally. Called a "renaissance woman of contemporary British music" (The Observer), Wallen is as respected a singer-songwriter of pop influenced songs as she is a composer of contemporary new music. Communication is at the centre of both worlds: engaging the audience, speaking directly to hearts and minds. LEARN MORE