Theme and Variation in Music and in the Prints of Anni Albers

Join us for an evening of music and conversation inspired by the art of Anni Albers. As a prelude to the event, enjoy a short performance of John Cage’s Atlas Eclipticalis by members of the Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra led by Victoria Schubarg ‘26. Immediately following will be a lively conversation between composer David Sanford and writer Christopher Benfey, who will explore wide-ranging connections between music and the visual arts. Their discussion will focus on examples from contemporary music and jazz, with special reference to the prints of Bauhaus and Black Mountain College artist Anni Albers. This event celebrates the Museum’s new exhibition Anni’s Orchestra: Theme and Variation in the Prints of Anni Albers guest-curated by Christopher Benfey.

Gamble Auditorium, followed by a reception in the Hinchcliff Reception Hall

This program is made possible by the Natalie Doernberg Hofheimer Program Fund

Christopher Benfey is Andrew W. Mellon Professor of English Emeritus at Mount Holyoke College. He is the author of five books about the American Gilded Age including A Summer of Hummingbirds, which won the 2009 Christian Gauss Award of Phi Beta Kappa. His family memoir, Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay (2012) has a section on Anni Albers at Black Mountain College. Benfey is a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has held fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

David W. Sanford is the Elizabeth T. Kennan Professor of Music at Mount Holyoke College and the director of the David Sanford Big Band. As a composer, he has received commissions from the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Da Capo Chamber Players, the Meridian Arts Ensemble, Speculum Musicae, cellist Matt Haimovitz, the Barlow Endowment, the Mary Flagler Cary Trust, Chamber Music America, and the Fromm and Koussevitzky Foundations. His honors include the Rome Prize and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters which recently elected him a member.

Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra roster, 25th Season (2025-2026):
Ng Tian Hui, Orchestra Director and Professor of Music
Performance conducted by Victoria Schubarg ’26

FLUTE: Brianna Torres ’26, Victoria Schubarg ’26, Maryn Bissell ’26, Chiara Bian ’29, Elizabeth Kisor ’28, Nicole Richards ’28
PICCOLO: Brianna Torres ’26, Victoria Schubarg ’26
OBOE: Claire Houston ’29
CLARINET: Julia Hart ’29, Claire Swensen ’29, Cadyn Hollingsworth ’29
HORN: Diana Eastman ’28, Rowan Wilkens ’29, Lydia Hall ’29, Alexandra Kanieski Koso ’28
TROMBONE: Beck Knight ’28, Audrey Wieczorek ’29
PIANO: Savannah Keller ’28
VIOLIN: Emma Harrison ’26, Wenyu Wang ’29, Sophie Kahn ’27, Moriana Ma ’29, Morgan Trudeau ’27, Leyalyn Jisun Grenfell-Lee ’28, Sarah Torres ’28, Andrea Zelada-Delfin ’28, Hailey Reed ’26, Miranda Serda ’28, Charlotte Bryan ’27, Ally Lacroix ’28, Jillian Stammely ’29
VIOLA: Madeline Hood ’27, Aylee Drake ’29, Grace Brighten ’28, Genevieve Vaillancourt ’29
CELLO: Bea Croteau ’26, Bronwyn Helm ’28, Isabella Borges ’29, Finn Gilogly ’26, JaeAh Shin ’26, Maura Ireland ’28, Emily Steadman ’26