Press Release

July 17, 2026

For Immediate Release

Classical music highlights include world premieres by David Amram, Samuel Adler, Augusta Read Thomas, Kitty Brazelton, Anthony Davis, and Yehudi Wyner; a tribute to Paul Robeson; and performances by Horszowski Trio, Ahn Trio, Cygnus Ensemble and more

The Village Trip, a massive celebration of culture and art in Greenwich Village, presents its annual festival September 25-October 4, 2026.

Highlights of the classical music offerings include:



• A tribute to Paul Robeson with bass-baritone James C. Martin and pianist Lynn Raley, featuring the world premiere of new works by David Amram and Anthony Davis written in honor of Robeson’s legacy 
• World premiere by Samuel Adler (b. 1929) commissioned for The Village Trip by the Cygnus Ensemble
• Horszowski Trio performs the US premiere of “25 Decades” by William Kentner Anderson alongside Brahms’ monumental Piano Trio No. 2
• A concert featuring Allen Shawn's music, with chamber works composed across four decades by this multifaceted musician
• The Ahn Trio plays music by Sting, Jobim, and Mark Baechle with guitarist James Moore

In addition to classical performances, The Village Trip’s 2026 season features a 40th anniversary celebration of The Greenwich Village Folk Festival with Suzanne Vega at the Great Hall at Cooper Union (October 4); a tribute to Cole Porter with the ever-versatile Janie Barnett (September 28); a stand-up comedy show with Lindsey Barnes and Katie Finn (September 29), and more.

The Village Trip celebrates the culture, community, and rich artistic history of Greenwich Village. It was founded in 2018 with David Amram as Artist-in-Residence and Suzanne Vega headlining a free concert in Washington Square Park. The annual festival features a wide variety of events for locals and visitors alike. 

Tickets and details at TheVillageTrip.com, and below.

Classical programs at The Village Trip festival 2026

Note: A complete schedule of all Village Trip programs is at TheVillageTrip.com

Friday, September 25 at 7 pm

We The People – Poetica Musica

St John’s in the Village (218 W 11th St, Manhattan)

Poetica Musica draws on music from America’s first 25 decades – including works by Robert Beaser, Aaron Copland, William Bolcom, Hall Johnson, and others — to trace a thread of distinctly American expression across generations and styles.

Featuring Barry Crawford, flute, Oren Fader, guitar, William Anderson, guitar, Molly Morkoski, piano and Eleanor Valkenburg, soprano.

Saturday, September 26 at 7 pm

The Ahn Trio with James Moore: The Art of Collaboration: Sting, Jobim and Baechle

Greenwich House Music School (46 Barrow St, Manhattan)

The Ahn Trio, “classical revolutionaries” (Newsday), combine razor-sharp technique with the fierce energy of rock stars, seamlessly fusing classical music with rock, jazz, and multimedia. “The Art of Collaboration: Sting, Jobim and Baechle” is an unmissable evening of duos, trios and quartets with guest guitarist James Moore.

Sunday, September 27 at 4 pm

Let Freedom Sing: Paul Robeson – His Words, His Music

Featuring bass-baritone James C. Martin and pianist Lynn Raley

St Mark’s in the Bowery (131 E 10th St, Manhattan)

Paul Robeson — singer, athlete, actor, activist — embodied all the promise of America at its best. Bass-baritone James C. Martin and pianist Lynn Raley celebrate a true American patriot with a program of Robeson’s best-loved songs and his bravest words. The program also features world premieres by David Amram, Anthony Davis, Augusta Read Thomas and Chen Shih-hui, as well as music by Erik Santos and Robert Wellington Pound, and a setting of words by Robeson’s friend and fellow activist Langston Hughes by Maria Thompson Corley.

Sunday, September 27 at 7 pm

25 Decades: The Horszowski Trio

Greenwich House Music School (46 Barrow St, Manhattan)

The Horszowski Trio performs the US premiere of 25 Decades by William Kentner Anderson alongside Brahms' monumental Piano Trio No. 2 in C major, Op 87. Anderson is composer, guitarist, and Director of Classical and New Music for The Village Trip.

Tuesday, September 29 at 7 pm

Women’s Work

St John’s in the Village (218 W 11th St, Manhattan)

An evening of music and poetry that explores the tension between the external demands placed on women and the rich creative interior lives they have always sustained. The program features works by Liz Queler (The Edna Project), Missy Mazzoli, Shoko Suzuki, Ann Southam, and Whitney George, alongside texts by Eleanor Roosevelt, Marcella Remund, Edna St Vincent Millay and Anne Lovering Rounds.

Performers include Sharon Harms, soprano; Curtlyn Ifill, soprano; Joan Forsyth, piano; Adam Tendler, piano; Anne Lovering Rounds, words and piano.

Thursday, October 1 at 7:30 pm

America Sings a Siren’s Song: Cutting Edge Concerts and the Cygnus Ensemble

St. Luke in the Fields Church (487 Hudson St, Manhattan)

Four composers from diverse backgrounds – Samuel Adler, Victoria Bond, Dina Koston, and Nehemiah Luckett – offer very personal interpretations of the dreams that have lured immigrants from all around the world to America’s shores. Performed by Cygnus Ensemble (William Anderson, guitar and mandolin; Oren Fader, guitar; Tara Helen O’Connor, flute; David Fulmer, violin; Megan Wojtyla, oboe) with singers Amy Justin, Devony Smith, Maximilian Jansen, and Patrick Wilhelm; and narrator Emmanuel Chumaceiro.

Friday, October 2 at 7:30 pm

Village Voices

St John’s in the Village (218 W 11th St, Manhattan)

The Village Trip brings together composers with deep ties to Greenwich Village and the East Village drawing on an extraordinary range of voices featuring premieres by Scott Wheeler, and Ella Milch-Sheriff, as well as new settings of Herman Melville by Akemi Naito and Kile Smith. Also on the program: Judd Greenstein discusses, and shows a short film about, his opera "A Marvelous Order," which centers on the feud between Moses and Jacobs over Washington Square Park and the proposed Lower Manhattan Expressway (LOMEX).

Performers include Oren Fader, guitar; William Anderson, mandolin; Emily John, harp; Joan Forsyth, piano; Sharon Harms, soprano; Curtlyn Ifill, soprano; Tim Ruedeman, sax; Scott Wheeler, piano.

Saturday, October 3 at 7 pm

Notes from a Life: An Evening with Allen Shawn

Greenwich House Music School (46 Barrow St, Manhattan)

An intimate evening in the company of Allen Shawn, celebrated for his “distinctly urban energy.” Shawn is an author, pianist, and composer whose six-year sojourn in the West Village marked a creative turning point when – influenced by his friendship with clarinetist Benny Goodman – he began blending classical music with elements of jazz.

Performers include Curtis Macomber, violin; Joan Forsyth, piano; Laurel Zucker, flute; Allen Shawn, piano; Yoshiko Sato, piano

Sunday, October 4 at 4 pm

Classical Cool: Ich Bin Ein New Yorker: Orchestral Concert for Young People

St Mark’s in the Bowery (131 E 10th St, Manhattan)

Classical Cool is the festival’s annual concert for children and families. Hosted by Nina Bernstein Simmons, the program features excerpts from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, and his "Ode to Freedom" from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Classical Cool also features premières by Shoko Suzuki, and William Kentner Anderson. Community African drummers under Amos Gabia and local choral ensembles join The Village Trip Festival Orchestra, conducted by Garrett Keast of the Berlin American Academy of Music. Featured soloists include the winner of TVT's Concerto Competition, and soprano Curtlyn Ifill.