Decoda

Event Description

Praised by The New York Times as “refreshing in the extreme,” the chamber music collective Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall, creates a more connected and compassionate world through music—offering artfully scripted performances, leading inventive community projects, and training the next generation of artists to rethink and reimagine their role in society.

Decoda’s musicians are equally devoted to virtuosic performance and meaningful audience engagement. Decoda makes its Penn State debut with special guests Ringdown, the cinematic electro-pop duo featuring composers and vocalists Caroline Shaw and Danni Lee Parpan—an “ecstatically blissful” (Night After Night) and “irresistible” (Feast of Music) pair creating music that floats up from the dusty record bin between Brahms and Brandi Carlile, and centers around joy, human connection, and trying to inspire people to feel more love.

The program, Reverberations, explores the profound relationship between inspiration and imagination, revealing an interconnected web of musical influence. Two works by Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring will feature a special side-by-side collaboration with Penn State School of Music students.

The program will include:

• Aaron Copland, Midday Thoughts for solo piano (1944, rev. 1982)
• Hanns Eisler, Septet No. 1, Op. 92a (1940)
• Woody Guthrie/Billy Bragg, Eisler on the Go (arr. Claire Bryant) (1949/1998)
• Ringdown (with Decoda), Set of Four Short Works: “Reckoning,” “Run,” “Thirst,” and “I Won’t Go” (2024–25)
• Ringdown, Every Stone in Cambridge Reminds Me of You (2024)
• Copland, Appalachian Spring suite for thirteen instruments (1945/1970), featuring students from Penn State School of Music

Post-performance discussion

After the performance, the artist will speak with interested the audience members.

Artist Websites

• Decoda
• Ringdown

Event Details

Support provided by
Nina C. Brown Endowment
Norma and Ralph Condee Chamber Music Endowment
Pieter and Lida Ouwehand Endowment

Accessibility services supported by
Sidney and Helen S. Friedman Endowment

A grant from the University Park Fee Board makes student prices possible.