COPLAND & TWAIN to Make NY Premiere at Chelsea Music Festival
Director Bill Barclay leads five actors and conductor Ken-David Masur at Open Jar Studios.
Chelsea Music Festival has announced Copland & Twain - A Theatrical Concert at Open Jar Studios, 1601 Broadway, Floor 11, NYC, set for Thursday, June 25, 2026 from 7-9pm.
Copland & Twain is a theatrical concert by director Bill Barclay (former Director of Music at Shakespeare's Globe), produced by Concert Theatre Works, that weaves Aaron Copland's stirring incidental music - including Music for Movies and Music for Theatre - together with the wit and wisdom of Mark Twain's Diaries of Adam and Eve and other writings.
Five diverse actors perform in costume before the Festival Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Ken-David Masur in this NY Premiere with costumes, lighting, and projections bringing this uniquely American collision of voices to life. The production poses a timely question at the heart of the American experiment: will the nation grow from its wounds toward a deeper love of neighbor, or let its scars tear it apart?
Bill Barclay, writer and director
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Concert Theatre Works, producer
Arthur Oliver, Costume Designer
Caleb Mayo, actor
Chloe McFarlane, actress
Maurice Emanuel Parent, actor
Robert Walsh, actor
Carson Elrod, actor
Program
Aaron Copland Music for the Movies (NY Premiere, chamber orchestration)
Aaron Copland Music for the Theater (NY Premiere, chamber orchestration)
Mark Twain Diaries of Adam and Eve
Reception by Niederegger to follow
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Writer, director, and composer Bill Barclay is best known for his 25+ productions of concert-theatre including Secret Byrd, Romeo & Juliet, Markus Passion and The Chevalier. He is artistic director of Concert Theatre Works which tours his productions to 30 cities internationally each year. He was last at the MSO with his largest theatrical concert, Peer Gynt. As Director of Music at Shakespeare's Globe, he produced live music for over 130 productions and 100 concerts, composing original music for over a dozen which have toured to six continents. His Broadway and West End credits include Farinelli & The King, Twelfth Night, and Richard III, all starring Sir Mark Rylance. Barclay's original works have been described as "witty and incisive" (NY Times), "emotionally supercharged" (The Times, London), "quietly transfixing" (New Yorker), "effortless perfection" (The Observer) and "quite simply exquisite" (The Guardian). Orchestral partners include The LA Philharmonic (at The Hollywood Bowl), National Symphony Orchestra (Kennedy Center), BBC Symphony Orchestra (Barbican), London Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, New World Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, symphonies in Cincinnati, Milwaukee, St Louis, New Jersey, Virginia, Colorado, Indiana, Hartford, Harlem, Winston-Salem, and Chautauqua. He has been commissioned five times by The Boston Symphony Orchestra, staging his own original adaptations over 12 seasons including Romeo & Juliet,Peer Gynt, A Midsummer Night's Dream, L'Histoire du Soldat, The Chevalier, and The Magic Flute.
An early music specialist, his productions Death of Gesualdo, Secret Byrd, Markus Passion, Bach's Art of Fugue and others have variously featured The Gesualdo Six, Music of the Baroque, The English Concert, The Sixteen, Handel & Haydn Society, Fretwork, Academy of Ancient Music, Dunedin Consort, Barokksolistene, Orchestra for the Age of Enlightenment, St Martin-in-the-Fields, National Centre for Early Music, Oregon Bach Festival, Early Music Seattle, Portland Baroque, San Francisco Early Music Society, Abendmusik and others, at dozens of festivals around the world. As a composer, his original music has been performed for President Obama, for the Olympic Torch, at the United Nations, and three times for the British Royal Family. He was the composer for Hamlet Globe-to-Globe which toured 197 countries, and Call of the Wild which toured to 42 states. He directed Silkroad's Heroes Take Their Stands, and conducted City of London Sinfonia on international tours. He has been commissioned by The Royal Albert Hall, Washington National Cathedral, The Hollywood Bowl, and four times by The Boston Symphony Orchestra.
A contributor to the Guardian and Songlines, Barclay is published on the music of Shakespeare by both Cambridge and Oxford University Presses, and he lectures widely on Shakespeare and the music of the spheres. His newest work is What Music Is, aimed at revealing music's essential role on our planet (@whatmusicis). He is the recipient of a Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship, the largest grant for actors in the United States, and spent 12 years as a company member at both Shakespeare & Company and Actors' Shakespeare Project, where he collaborated on over 40 productions as an actor, director, composer, and educator. Barclay earned his MFA in playwriting at Boston University. He can be followed @barclayarts and concerttheatreworks.com.
Hailed as "fearless, bold, and a life-force" (San Diego Union-Tribune) and "a brilliant and commanding conductor with unmistakable charisma" (Leipzig Volkszeitung), Ken-David Masur is celebrating his seventh season as Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the Chicago Symphony's Civic Orchestra, and newly announced Artistic Partner of the Oregon Bach Festival.
In 2025-2026, Masur will lead celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, featuring performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Missa Solemnis, as well as Bach's St. Matthew Passion as part of the third annual Bach Festival. Ken-David Masur and the MSO will reunite with longtime collaborators such as Augustin Hadalich, Orion Weiss, Stewart Goodyear, Nancy Zhou as well as a special project with Bill Barclay and Concert Theatre Works to celebrate America's 250th birthday with a program interweaving the music of Aaron Copland with the words of Mark Twain. In Chicago, Masur leads the Civic Orchestra, the premiere training ensemble of the Chicago Symphony, in a wide range of programs, including its annual Bach Marathon.
Masur has conducted distinguished orchestras around the world, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Baltimore, Detroit, and San Francisco Symphonies, l'Orchestre National de France, Minnesota Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Norway's Kristiansand Symphony and Tokyo's Yomiuri Nippon Symphony. He has also made regular appearances at Ravinia, Tanglewood, the Hollywood Bowl, Grant Park, and international festivals including Verbier. Recent highlights include subscription debuts with the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, and the National Symphony as well as a triumphant return to the Oregon Bach Festival featuring a staged Carmina Burana.
Masur is passionate about contemporary music and has conducted and commissioned numerous new works over the years. Some notable pieces include Wynton Marsalis' Harold Haller and Hallelujah, Augusta Read Thomas' Bebop Kaleidoscope - Homage to Duke Ellington with the New York Philharmonic, Mannequin by Unsuk Chin with the Boston Symphony, Rounds by Jessie Montgomery, and Alan Fletcher's Piano Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Additional U.S. premieres under his baton include works by James B. Wilson, Dobrinka Tabakova, Christopher Cerrone, Edmund Finnis, Eric Nathan, and Jacob Beranek among others.
Masur has made recordings with the English Chamber Orchestra and violinist Fanny Clamagirand, and with the Stavanger Symphony, the latter of which was named by WQXR, New York's classical music radio station, as a "Best New Classical Release." Masur also received a Grammy nomination from the Latin Recording Academy for Best Classical Album of the Year for his work as a producer of the album Salon Buenos Aires.
Born and raised in Leipzig, Germany, Masur was trained at the Mendelssohn Academy in Leipzig, the Gewandhaus Children's Choir, the Detmold Academy and the „Hanns Eisler" Conservatory in Berlin. While an undergraduate at Columbia University in New York, Masur became the first music director of the Bach Society Orchestra & Chorus with which he toured to Germany and recorded the music of J.S.Bach and his sons.
Music education and working with the next generation of young artists are of major importance to Masur. In addition to his work with Civic Orchestra of Chicago, he has conducted orchestras and led masterclasses at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Peck School of the Arts, New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Boston University, Boston Conservatory, Tokyo's Bunka Kaikan Chamber Orchestra, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and The Juilliard School. kendavidmasur.com
Arthur Oliver, Costume Designer, is a designer with 35 years of experience in the performing arts. His work has achieved praise from The London Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, The Boston Globe and Variety Magazine. Arthur's first design for Concert Theatre Works, Secret Byrd, premiered at the National Cathedral, Washington, DC and The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in 2023. It continues to tour the United States and the United Kingdom. In the summer of 2025, he designed costumes for Romeo and Juliet, conceived and directed by Bill Barclay, Concert Theatre Works. It premiered with Maestro Andris Nelsons conducting The Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Music Shed. The production, commissioned by The Royal Albert Hall and The Boston Symphony Orchestra. Approximately 15,000 people were in attendance. International design work includes the Mikhailovsky Ballet Theatre (St. Petersburg, Russia) and The National Opera and Ballet (Kyiv and Odesa, Ukraine). He continues to design in the US for regional theatres, opera, ballet, and independent films. Arthur Oliver is a member of United Scenic Artists Local USA 829. arthuroliver.com
Caleb Mayo performed the title role of Peer Gynt in 2022 at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. A frequent collaborator with Concert Theatre Works (CTW), he originated Peer Gynt with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), later playing the role with the Symphony Orchestras of Milwaukee, Cincinnati, and St. Louis, and reprising it in Boston for the BSO's 2024 season. He has also appeared with the BSO at Tanglewood in CTW's 2017 Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, in 2025's debut of Romeo and Juliet, and with the BSO Chamber Players in 2026's The Soldiers Tale. Caleb began his classical training at age 11 and made his professional debut at 15 in the Huntington Theatre Company's To Kill a Mockingbird. He holds a B.A. in Drama from Vassar College, and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He has worked in film (One-Eyed Monster), television (Criminal Minds), new media (WTUFO), and regional theatre across the United States, including with the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington DC, the Knightsbridge Theatre in Los Angeles and the Stonington Opera House in Maine.
Chloe McFarlane (Boston): Romeo and Juliet (Actor's Shakespeare Project) as Juliet; Little Women (Actor's Shakespeare Project) as Amy; Film: Mr. Santa (Dir. Noel Calloway). Training includes Boston University School of Theatre, the British American Dramatic Academy, and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting.
Maurice Emmanuel Parent is an award-winning actor, director, educator, and mentor with 20 years of professional experience. With over 40 acting credits, he has performed on stages across the nation and abroad, working with some of Boston's most esteemed theatre companies, including the Huntington Theatre Company, Actors' Shakespeare Project, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Lyric Stage Company, New Repertory Theatre, and Central Square Theater, among others. Regional Theatre's Maurice has worked for Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Geva Theatre, Barrington Stage Company, Northern Stage, and Fulton Theatre in Lancaster PA. His work as both an actor and director has earned him numerous accolades, including three Elliot Norton Awards from The Boston Theater Critics Association, three Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Awards, and an ArtsImpulse Award. Beyond the stage, Parent has been a dedicated educator for over a decade. He has taught at Northeastern University, MIT, and The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, in addition to spending six years as a Performing Arts Specialist in the Boston Public School System. He is currently a full-time Professor of the Practice in the Tufts University Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies. Parent is also the creator and performer of Mr. Parent, a one-man show inspired by his years as a public school teacher. Originally staged at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, the production has since been performed at Geva Theatre in Rochester, NY, and most recently at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. In 2016, driven by the lack of opportunities for artists of color and the urgent need to address racial inequities in Boston's theatre landscape, Parent co-founded Front Porch Arts Collective, where he now serves as Producing Artistic Director. Under his leadership, The Porch has become a catalyst for change, creating space for dialogue, representation, and artistic excellence.mauriceparent.com
Robert Walsh - Off-Broadway: Gloucester Blue (Cherry Lane), Big Maggie(Douglas Fairbanks), Penelope (Perry St. Theatre), and company member with the Theater of the Open Eye (Jean Erdman & Joseph Campbell), the Riverside Shakespeare Company and Circle Rep Lab Company. Boston: The Dybbuk & The Gaaga (Arlekin Players Theatre), Ah, Wilderness! and Hamlet (Huntington Theatre), Trouble in Mind (Lyric Stage), Our Town, Mass Appeal, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Merrimack Rep), Sins of the Mother, The Subject Was Roses (Gloucester Stage) 'ART', The Cocktail Hour (New Rep), Next Fall (Speakeasy Stage), The Winter's Tale, Coriolanus, Macbeth, Henry V (Commonwealth Shakespeare Co.), and King Lear, Henry IV, Titus Andronicus, and Hamlet, among others for the Actors' Shakespeare Project, (founding company member). Film/TV: Fourth of July, Black Mass, Dead Reckoning, The Spirit of Christmas, Evening; State and Main; Amistad; Eight Men Out; Body of Proof (ABC), IMDb. Former Artistic Director of Gloucester Stage Company and the American Stage Festival, and currently serves on the faculty at Brandeis University. He directed the on-field ceremonies for the 1999 All-Star Game for Major League Baseball at Fenway Park in Boston.
Carson Elrod: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Soldier's Tale (Concert Theatre Works with The Boston Symphony) Broadway: Peter and The Starcatcher, Reckless, Noises Off. Metropolitan Opera: The Merry Widow. Off-Broadway: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Seize The King (Classical Theatre of Harlem), The Alchemist (Red Bull), The Tempest, Measure for Measure, All's Well That Ends Well (The PUBLIC: New York Shakespeare Festival), The Liar, The Heir Apparent (Classic Stage Company). Important Hats of the 20th Century, The Explorer's Club, Based On A Totally True Story, House, Garden, Comic Potential (Manhattan Theatre Club), Lives of The Saints, All in the Timing (Primary Stages), Cavedweller (New York Theatre Workshop) Pygmalion (Gingold). Regional: Williamstown, Yale Rep, American Repertory Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Shakespeare Theatre DC, Westport Country Playhouse, Denver Center, Shakespeare & Company, Barrington Stage, Tanglewood, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Berkeley Rep. TV: EVIL, The Good Fight, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Medium, 30 Rock. Film: Wedding Crashers, Kissing Jessica Stein. MFA NYU Grad Acting. Executive Director of Arts Workers United (artsworkersunited.com). carsonelrod.com
ABOUT THE CHELSEA MUSIC FESTIVAL
Chelsea Music Festival celebrates great music by convening world-leading musicians & artists in the performing, culinary, and visual arts for an international audience. The Festival invites artists, composers, and performers to collaborate in pursuit of new perspectives in artistic expression. Inspired by its Chelsea roots, the Festival reflects the creativity of one of New York City's most dynamic neighborhoods. Programs span musical genres ranging from classical to contemporary to jazz with a special emphasis on Festival commissions by composers whose works are not in the traditional western canon. In addition, the Festival hosts an online library of recordings so music enthusiasts, artists, and students alike can explore unique interpretations of classical, jazz, and contemporary works via high-quality videos of world-class performances.
Since 2010, the Festival has established itself as a critically-acclaimed, accessible and interactive gateway to chamber music in non-traditional concert spaces such as art galleries, public squares, schools, and churches. Programming includes concerts, lectures, exhibitions, family events, and free outreach performances. In 2020, the Festival inaugurated its Online Encores and Online Originals YouTube series; Online Encores presents highlights from Festival archives while Online Originals presents new performances and recordings. We are proud to give emerging voices, particularly those of women and people of color, a stage and work to build an audience and intimate community to support a new generation of musicians, composers, and artists.
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