Burchfield & Whitman in Opera and Song on August 4th in Buffalo, NY

Detailed watercolor landscape painting depicting a forest and babbling brook in the transition from winter to spring
Charles Burchfield, “The Coming of Spring” (1917-43)
SUNDAY, AUGUST 4, 2024 AT 2:00PM

Burchfield & Whitman in Opera and Song:
Buffalo Opera Unlimited Performs the Music of Nell Shaw Cohen
Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY

Next month the Burchfield Penney Art Center in Buffalo, NY presents a full concert of my opera and art songs comparing the works of two iconic American artists: painter Charles E. Burchfield and poet Walt Whitman.

Tenors Joe Dan Harper and Alexander Kosmowski join Matthew Marco, pianist and Artistic Director of Buffalo Opera Unlimited, in this special event presented in conjunction with the Burchfield Penney Art Center’s exhibition Embracing Earth: Burchfield & Whitman.

My musical interpretations of Whitman’s Poem of The Road and Laws for Creations will be performed alongside the exclusive World Premiere of Proofs of Coming Fullness, which is based on text from Whitman’s memoir Specimen Days.

This will be followed by a staged production of my 2014 work The Coming of Spring: a one-man opera illuminating Burchfield’s artistic evolution. In this work, a series of poignant chronological episodes reveal how perceptions of nature framed Burchfield’s life experience: from days collecting insects during his rural Midwestern childhood to the years in which he supported his large family by producing popular images of industrial and suburban scenery in Buffalo.

Burchfield’s mission to develop the expressive power of his art—and to convey the transition from winter to spring in a single image—leads to a revelation in 1943 with the completion of the monumental titular painting.

Originally scored for tenor with a six-piece chamber ensemble, The Coming of Spring will be performed here in piano-vocal reduction.

Free and open to the public, with limited seating. More information here.

Nell’s Paintings Featured in Hudson Vallery Arts Events, Spring 2024

I’m delighted that my work as a painter was selected for inclusion in two art events here in the Hudson Valley this spring! To learn more about my visual art, visit my new art portfolio page.

Posted for "Woodland Creatures" exhibitFRIDAY, MAY 3-SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2024

Woodland Creatures
Wallkill River Center for the Arts, Montgomery, NY

A new painting of mine will be included in this group exhibition juried by Susan Siegel. More information here.

SATURDAY, JUNE 8 (RAIN DATE: SUNDAY, JUNE 9), 2024
AUCTION & EXHIBITION THROUGH SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2024

Plein Air Art Walk
Presented by Mohonk Preserve and Roost Arts Hudson Valley
Mohonk Preserve, New Paltz, NY

Posted for "Woodland Creatures" exhibit
Photo by Bill Winter for Mohonk Preserve

I will be painting in this special event celebrating Mohonk Preserve and the magic of creating artworks en plein air.

Visitors will have a chance to watch artists at work, stationed at breathtaking views on a trail starting from Mohonk Preserve’s Testimonial Gateway.

Immediately following the event, the finished artworks will be sold in an online auction and displayed at the Mohonk Preserve Visitors Center through the month of June. More information here.

“Retrace” reprised, a new opera, & CD release!

Juventas Plays Retrace This Saturday

Saturday, 11/11 at 8:00pm ET
East Cambridge, MA
& Streaming Live on YouTube

Juventas New Music Ensemble presents encore performances of audience favorites from their recent seasons—including my piece Retrace!

Get tickets, read the program, and watch the livestream here.


New Opera in Workshop Staging: The Fire Tower

A black and white photo taken at the base of a staircase, looking up at a fire tower atop a mountain summitFriday, 11/17 at 7:30pm
Sunday, 11/19 at 3:00pm
San Antonio, TX

The University of Texas at San Antonio presents a fully-staged workshop production of my new short opera, The Fire Tower, on their program “Epigrams”! Directed by Jourdan Laine Howell. Tickets are available here and at the UTSA Recital Hall.

Set against a backdrop of climate crisis in the American West, this 24-minute opera for soprano, mezzo-soprano, and piano is an intimate portrait of two intrepid women who develop a bond of friendship during a trek deep into the wilderness. Learn more about The Fire Tower.


Sauntering Songs Now Available on CD

Album cover for "Sauntering Songs"My album Sauntering Songs is now available on physical CD from Skylark Vocal Ensemble! Please consider supporting my wonderful collaborators by purchasing a copy.

The album is also available on all streaming music platforms.

Extended liner notes for Sauntering Songs are available here.


Autumn Art Prints Added to Shop

This Fall I released giclée prints of two new watercolor paintings depicting autumn foliage and rock cliffs here in the Shawangunk Mountains. Check them out, along with my Spring/Summer series, at my Etsy shop!

Prints of “Shawangunk Spring” watercolors now available on Etsy

Collage of five watercolor landscape paintings with the text "Shawangunk Spring: Watercolors by Nell Shaw Cohen, giclee prints now available on Etsy"

I’m excited to announce that, for the first time ever, my artwork is available for purchase!

For the grand opening of my Etsy store, I’ve created a series of five watercolor paintings, titled “Shawangunk Spring,” exploring the sublime beauties of the spring season in the Hudson Valley’s Shawangunk Mountains.

From delicate woodland wildflowers to hardy pitch pines on rock outcroppings, these images are a reflection of many hours spent in close observation of an environment I’m fortunate to call home.

My artworks are available as reproductions ranging in size from 5×7″ to 9×12″, printed with archival-quality inks on heavy watercolor paper using a giclée printing process. (At this time, only reproductions are available—but I might begin selling original paintings at some point if there’s enough interest.)

I plan to release more works and expand my stock over the summer, so please follow me on Instagram or Etsy (or drop me a note) if you’d like to be kept in the loop with store updates.