FALL
20 26
ZANKEL
ARTHUR ZANKEL MUSIC CENTER
ARTHUR ZANKEL MUSIC CENTER Music can be so many things. Your favorite song is an old friend, sparking joy or gently touching sadness. An artist you’ve loved for a lifetime can become a priceless tether to the past, carrying the memory of people, places, and moments. And the experience of listening can be like medicine, a form of self-care, and a pathway to healing. In the wake of Dolly Parton’s passing, I find myself thinking about how her song “Coat of Many Colors” has been all of those things to me. It is my reminder to forgive others when they fail to understand, and to wear my heart proudly on my sleeve. Its wisdom has stayed with me since childhood: that you can be rich with only what you carry in your heart. Dolly spent her life sharing the richness she found in music, stories, and human connection. That spirit — the idea that what we have becomes more valuable when we share it — is one I hope lives here at Zankel, too. For us, that means opening our doors as widely as we can. It means ensuring that cost doesn’t determine who gets to experience extraordinary live music, and caring for our artists and audiences before they ever enter the room. Because there is nothing like being there when music happens — and we believe in music that belongs to everyone.
Zhenelle LeBel Director
Zankel’s fall 2026 events are presented in collaboration with the Skidmore College Department of Music and the Office of Special Programs, with support from Skidmore Health and Wellness and the Arts Administration program. Our programming is made possible in part by the Zankel Music Fund; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; the Aaron Copland Fund for Music; and the generosity of Jean Sterne '32 and the family of Elisabeth Luce Moore.
BOX OFFICE Zankel offers pay-what-you-will ticketing for many guest performances. That means you choose the ticket price that works best for you. Every ticket provides the same experience; higher-priced tickets simply offer a way to provide additional support for our artists, programs, and commitment to keeping live music within reach for everyone. The Skidmore community can access complimentary tickets by using single sign-on during checkout. Tickets for children 18 and under are free. Student and faculty performances are free and open to the public, with advance RSVP encouraged.
TUESDAY - FRIDAY | 1:00 - 5:00PM Phone: 518-580-5321 | Email: zankel@skidmore.edu 815 N. Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 @ZankelMusicCenter
SEP
American Patchwork Quartet SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 7:30PM
Billy Hart Quartet FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 7:30PM
FALL
20 26
Somi: A Well-Being Concert SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2:00PM
OCT
Filene Scholar Celebration Concert FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 7:00PM
Life Beyond the Script with Joan Lunden SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 10:00AM
Skidmore Orchestra featuring Molly Lewis FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 7:00PM
Café Molly: An Evening with Molly Lewis SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 8:00PM
Alash SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 4:00PM
Ensemble Connect FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 7:30PM
NOV
SKIDMANIA ’76 FRIDAY & SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6 & 7, 8:00PM
Omega Trio, featuring Michael Emery, Jameson Platte, & Matthew Quayle FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 7:00PM
2nd Annual Skidmore & Bennington Folk Festival SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 7:30PM
Skidmore Chorus: The Little Prince FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 10:00AM
DEC
Les Misérables Skidmore Musical-in-Concert FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 7:00PM
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 7:30PM
AMERICAN PATCHWORK QUARTET Led by multi-GRAMMY Award-winning guitarist and vocalist Clay Ross, American Patchwork Quartet brings together Hindustani vocalist Falu, bassist Moto Fukushima, and drummer Rudy Royston, drawing on folk, jazz, country, West African, East Asian, and South Asian musical practices. Their GRAMMY-nominated self-titled debut transforms familiar songs through new arrangements and unexpected textures, tracing the many histories embedded in American roots music. In their hands, old songs become vessels for connection, reinvention, and an evolving American musical identity.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 7:30PM
BILLY HART QUARTET NEA Jazz Master Billy Hart has spent six decades at the center of modern jazz, shaping its sound alongside figures including Wes Montgomery, McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Stan Getz, and Miles Davis. Across more than 600 recordings, Hart has distinguished himself as a drummer of extraordinary responsiveness, imagination, and range. For this performance, his quartet features saxophonist Craig Handy, pianist Ethan Iverson, and bassist Ben Street — three deeply attuned improvisers joining Hart in a music grounded in jazz history and animated by the possibilities of the present.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2:00PM
SOMI: A WELL-BEING CONCERT Well-Being Concerts combine live musical performance with elements of self-care and mindfulness. Presented in partnership with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute and Skidmore Health and Wellness, the series brings audiences and artists together in an intimate, in-the-round setting, with the option to recline on mats, use cushions, or sit in chairs. Each concert incorporates guided practices for breathing, reflection, and deep listening. The series is developed in collaboration with local health, wellness, social service, education, and civic organizations, with particular attention to people whose work and lived experiences carry significant emotional demands. Communty outreach focuses especially on healthcare workers, educators, survivors of violence, and justice-impacted individuals, while welcoming anyone interested in a restorative musical experience.
The inaugural concert features acclaimed vocalist and composer Somi, with actress, educator, and director Teisha Duncan serving as host and guide for the afternoon. Together, they create a space for presence, care, and connection. This concert offers admission at two levels:
$15 general admission, or $30 community support, which helps provide free admission for another member of our community. Seating is limited; reserve your ticket today! Presented by the Arthur Zankel Music Center in partnership with Skidmore Health and Wellness and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute. Made possible by the Office of Special Programs/McCormack Fund and the Zankel Music Fund.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 7:00PM
FILENE SCHOLAR CELEBRATION CONCERT The 2026 Filene Scholar Celebration Concert features the winners of the 45th annual Filene Scholarship Competition, alongside our current Filene Scholars and faculty artists. Established through the generosity of the Filene Ladd families, this prestigious merit scholarship recognizes exceptional young musicians, providing them with support for private lessons and the freedom to pursue any major while continuing to perform at a high level.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 10:00AM
LIFE BEYOND THE SCRIPT WITH JOAN LUNDEN As a keynote event of the 2026 Saratoga Book Festival, award-winning journalist, bestselling author, and longtime Good Morning America host Joan Lunden joins local news anchor Julie Chapman for a conversation about her new memoir, Joan: Life Beyond the Script. Lunden reflects on her groundbreaking career and the experiences that shaped her beyond the camera, from motherhood and caregiving to health, resilience, and reinvention.
MOLLY LEWIS With a sound The New Yorker describes as “part Snow White communing with the birds, part haunted theremin,” Molly Lewis has made the human whistle a distinctive contemporary musical voice. Millions heard her in Barbie, where she whistles Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” during a pivotal scene and over the closing credits. This year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art featured newly commissioned footage of Lewis in Musical Bodies, an exhibition exploring the relationship between music and the human body across 4,000 years. Born in Sydney, Australia, Molly began whistling as a child and later turned the unlikely talent into a career, winning first place in the Live Band Accompaniment Division at the 2015 Masters of Musical Whistling competition. Her lounge show Café Molly led to a recording contract with Jagjaguwar and the releases of The Forgotten Edge (2021), Mirage (2022), and her debut album, On the Lips (2024). She has since toured internationally, supported Weyes Blood and Beck, and appears in the documentary Whistle, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival. Molly’s Skidmore residency began in The ArtistCentered Approach, an Arts Administration course taught by Zankel Director Zhenelle LeBel. For her final project, student Grace Higginbotham ’26 developed a proposal for an engagement with Molly that her classmates selected to move forward. Zankel worked directly with Molly to expand that idea into a weeklong residency featuring performances with the Skidmore Orchestra and her own band. This October, Grace returns as a recent graduate to support Molly during the residency, seeing an idea born in the classroom become a professional artistic engagement and helping bring it to life firsthand. Presented by the Arthur Zankel Music Center in partnership with the Skidmore Department of Music. Made possible by the Zankel Music Fund; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and the family of Elisabeth Luce Moore, with support from the Arts Administration program.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 7:00PM
SKIDMORE ORCHESTRA FEATURING MOLLY LEWIS Molly Lewis brings her singular artistry to the Skidmore Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Georgia Mills, with arrangements by Icelandic composer Thomas Stankiewicz. The program places the whistle in the role of orchestral soloist through beloved melodies from Delibes’s Lakmé, Saint-Saëns’s The Swan, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Fauré’s Pelléas et Mélisande, and Mozart’s famously virtuosic "Queen of the Night" aria, alongside Molly’s own Oceanic Feeling and Miracle Fruit. The Skidmore Orchestra also takes the spotlight in “Carillon,” “Pastorale,” and “Farandole” from Georges Bizet’s L’Arlésienne.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 8:00PM
CAFÉ MOLLY Molly returns to the Zankel stage with Café Molly — her traveling lounge concept — for an evening with her five-piece band. Drawn from On the Lips and other original work, the set pairs Molly’s precise, expressive whistle with lush arrangements, jazz-inflected grooves, and midcentury elegance. It’s stylish, cinematic, and a little surreal.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 4:00PM
ALASH Alash are masters of Tuvan throat singing, or xöömei, a vocal tradition that allows a single singer to produce multiple pitches at once. The ensemble brings the sounds of Tuva into sharp focus — resonant strings, driving rhythms — while incorporating selected elements of contemporary music. Winners of major international throat-singing competitions, Alash have collaborated with artists ranging from Béla Fleck & the Flecktones to the Sun Ra Arkestra. The Washington Post has called their music “utterly stunning.”
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 7:30PM
ENSEMBLE CONNECT Known for “fresh, exciting performances charged with creativity, energy, and daring” (New York Classical Review), Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect presents a characteristically adventurous program featuring works by some of the chamber repertoire’s most distinctive composers. In addition to notable but underperformed works by Ligeti, Loeffler, and Kodály, the ensemble performs a favorite: Bartók’s Contrasts, a piece created in response to requests by jazz great Benny Goodman and Hungarian violinist Joseph Szigeti. Made possible by the generous support of Beverly Sanders Payne ’59 and her late husband David B. Payne.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 8PM & SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 8PM
SKIDMANIA ’76 SKIDMANIA returns! Celebrating the music of 50 years ago and fueled by the talent and imagination of Skidmore student and faculty performers, SKIDMANIA ’76 offers an exciting and inclusive bill of beloved hits and forgotten gems, with all proceeds going to charity. Join us as we revisit and reinterpret the sounds of 1976, bringing our creative community together for an evening of music and giving back.
Tickets: $25 general public, $15 Skidmore faculty/staff $5 Skidmore students
CAN’T MAKE IT TO THE SHOW? Find the livestream at skidmore.edu/zankel and make a donation online today!
About Skidmore Cares: Each year during the season of giving thanks, the Skidmore community comes together through Skidmore Cares to support local organizations serving our neighbors. Ticket sales from SKIDMANIA’ 76 will benefit Shelters of Saratoga, Franklin Community Center, Mary’s Haven, LifeWorks Community Action, Wellspring, Saratoga Springs City School District PATHS, the Latino Advocacy Program, The Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity of Northern Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties, and Saratoga Center for the Family.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 7:00PM
OMEGA TRIO The Omega Trio brings together Skidmore faculty members Michael Emery, violin, and Jameson Platte, cello, with pianist and composer Matthew Quayle for a program pairing vivid contemporary music with one of the most gripping chamber works of the 20th century. The trio performs Chen Yi’s Tibetan Tunes, Reena Esmail’s Saans, and Jessie Montgomery’s Duo for Violin and Cello. It also presents the world premiere of a virtuosic composition by Quayle, written for the ensemble and adding a dynamic new work to a collaboration that spans nearly two decades. The evening concludes with the powerful Trio No. 2, Op. 67 of Dmitri Shostakovich.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 7:30PM
2ND ANNUAL SKIDMORE & BENNINGTON FOLK FESTIVAL This two-day festival continues a regional collaboration built around performance, participation, and the living traditions of folk music and features acclaimed fiddler Jenna Moynihan, whose inventive style draws from Scottish, American, Irish, and Swedish traditions, performing with celebrated guitarist and bouzouki player Owen Marshall. Skidmore alumni Ellie Ushakov ’26, Francis Davies ’26, and Paul Machabee ’21 open the festival concert. Performances, workshops, jam sessions, and community activities bring students, artists, and public audiences together across both campuses for shared learning, music-making, and intergenerational exchange. Scan the QR code for schedule and tickets
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 10:00AM
THE LITTLE PRINCE Under the direction of Dr. Floydd Ricketts, the Skidmore Chorus brings Antoine de SaintExupéry’s beloved The Little Prince to life in a morning concert for audiences of all ages. Louise Greig’s lyrical adaptation, accompanied by Sarah Massini’s enchanting illustrations, follows the Little Prince from his tiny asteroid across strange new worlds and finally to Earth, where he discovers the meaning of friendship, compassion, and love.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 7:00PM
MUSICAL-IN-CONCERT “Will you join in our crusade?” Skidmore students and alumni bring Les Misérables to the stage in the inaugural Broadway in Concert production, a concert presentation of the beloved musical’s sweeping story of revolution, sacrifice, hope, and social change. Led by Stage Director Dr. Sylvia Stoner-Hawkins and Musical Director Dr. Floydd Ricketts, the performance showcases the soaring score that has made Les Misérables a landmark of musical theater.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 7:00PM
SKIDMORE IN CONCERT This free, public series showcases the excellence of our Music Department and celebrates the vibrancy of our shared artistic community. All events take place in Zankel’s Helen Filene Ladd Concert Hall unless otherwise noted.
CHORUS Directed by Floydd Ricketts SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 5:30PM Elisabeth Luce Moore Hall (ELM)
BRASS & WOODWIND ENSEMBLES Directed by Patrice Malatestinic and Yvonne Chavez Hansbrough TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 7:00PM
ORCHESTRA Directed by Georgia Mills
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 7:00PM
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 3:00PM
GUITAR ENSEMBLE
GLOBAL MUSIC SHOWCASE: TRADITIONAL AND POPULAR MUSIC FROM GHANA, INDIA, CHINA, AND MONGOLIA
Coached by Brett Grigsby and Paul Quigley THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 7:00PM
JAZZ COMBOS Coached by Jazz Faculty
Coached by Veena Chandra, Charlotte D’Evelyn, and Koblavi Dogah
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 7:00PM
JAZZ ENSEMBLE + CUBAN MUSIC ENSEMBLE
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1:00PM
Coached by Russell Haight and Jorge Gomez
Directed by Milton Lee
CONCERT BAND
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 9:00AM
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 7:00PM
ORCHESTRA CONCERTO COMPETITION
Directed by Michael Emery
Directed by Georgia Mills
STRING ENSEMBLES
To learn more, visit:
www.skidmore.edu/zankel