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Percussion-and-piano quartet Yarn/Wire will perform world premieres by Selim Göncü and Dominick DeStefano as well as works by Steve Reich and Brittany J. Green, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 22 in the Sinquefield Music Center’s Sheryl Crow Hall.
Described by the New York Times as “key figures from the contemporary music scene… with unmistakable devotion and excitement” and “wildly virtuosic” by The Wire, Yarn/Wire is a New York-based percussion-and-piano quartet (Russell Greenberg and Dustin Donahue, percussion; Laura Barger and Julia Den Boer, pianos) dedicated to the promotion of creative, experimental new music. Since its founding in 2005, the ensemble has garnered widespread acclaim for its steadfast commitment to adventurous compositions and unique collaborative approach to music-making. With a worldwide presence, Yarn/Wire strives to connect with audiences, building community to help new compositions realize their full creative potential.
Yarn/Wire’s 20th anniversary season in 2025-2026 includes its New York Philharmonic debut, including the world premiere of a concerto for quartet and orchestra by George Lewis, a celebratory Pop Up Festival at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre, which contains new works by Craig Taborn and Zeena Parkins, the premiere of a collaborative new work called Endlings, by Raven Chacon and John Dieterich at the Time:Spans Festival, Swoonfest with TAK Ensemble and ISSUE Project Room, new work by Nate Wooley, Annea Lockwood’s Into The Vanishing Point at Harvard University, and Composer Portraits of Anthony Cheung and Andrew McIntosh at Miller Theatre at Columbia University, as well as several Live from Troutman performances at their Yarn/Wire Studio in Queens, NY, and its annual Yarn/Wire Currents concert in Brooklyn, NY. Yarn/Wire’s international schedule includes Europe’s Transart Festival (Italy), Festival Aperto (Italy), Transit Festival (Belgium), and Aarhus Symphony Orchestra (Denmark). In the 2025-2026 season, Yarn/Wire will release Yarn/Wire Currents 10 and 11, sonic artist Katie Young’s Biomes on Chaikin Records, and a portrait CD of Thomas Meadowcroft’s music on MODE Records. They will also serve as Artists-in-Residence at the University of Washington and Brooklyn College.
In recent seasons, Yarn/Wire performed at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Miller Theatre at Columbia University, The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, and more, as well as returning regularly to the Miller Theatre, the Time:Spans Festival, the Italian Academy at Columbia University, and Pioneer Works (NYC). Yarn/Wire performed Øyvind Torvund’s children’s piece, The Sound of the Forest at the Ultima Festival in Norway. Yarn/Wire also held educational and performance residencies at Harvard, Princeton, IRCAM (Paris), Emory University, Georgia Tech, and UC Berkeley.
Yarn/Wire has championed composers including Annea Lockwood, Enno Poppe, Michael Gordon, George Lewis, Ingrid Laubrock, Ann Cleare, Catherine Lamb, Sarah Hennies, Tyshawn Sorey, Peter Evans, Alex Mincek, Thomas Meadowcroft, Misato Mochizuki, Sam Pluta, Tyondai Braxton, Kate Soper, and Øyvind Torvund. The ensemble enjoys collaborations with genre-bending artists such as Tristan Perich, Ben Vida, Mark Fell, Sufjan Stevens, and Pete Swanson. In previous seasons, Yarn/Wire performed at Bergen International Festival (Norway) with JACK Quartet. In addition, their ongoing commissioning series, Yarn/Wire Currents, serves as an incubator for new experimental music in partnership with a variety of Brooklyn-based institutions, including Roulette, Blank Forms, and ISSUE Project Room.
A strong advocate for education, Yarn/Wire has presented collaborative workshops, masterclasses, and residencies at Princeton University, Columbia University, Harvard University, Stanford University, Brown University, Duke University, Northwestern University, Cornell University, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Adelphi University, UC Santa Cruz, Girard College, Brandeis University, and University of Pennsylvania. Since 2014, the ensemble has hosted the annual Yarn/Wire International Institute and Festival for composers and performers interested in exploring the collaborative side of contemporary music. At the core of Yarn/Wire’s artistic mission is its dedication to transformative work and creating unforgettable experiences.
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