Looking for a world-class musical ensemble? On September 20, 2025, the Moss Ensemble will perform at the Doctorow Center for the Arts in Hunter, NY, presenting an evening of classical and contemporary music inspired by the legacy of Mimi Stern-Wolfe.
About the Moss Ensemble Concert
On Saturday, September 20 at 7:00 pm, the Moss Ensemble—mezzo-soprano Darcy Dunn; counter-tenor, violinist, and composer Marshall Coid; pianist Elizabeth Rodgers; and cellist Mary Wooten—will perform at the Doctorow Center for the Arts in Hunter. Expect an eclectic evening at this classical music concert, featuring fascinating, adventurous, and moving music—pieces by Mozart, Bach, Faure, Massenet, and Shostakovich, as well as songs by 20th-century composers Chris DeBlasio, Douglas Anderson, and ensemble member Marshall Coid, whose “Medieval Fantasia” is being repeated on the program for a second season due to popular demand.
Mimi Stern-Wolfe’s Legacy in New York Music
Each member of the ensemble is a highly acclaimed musician in their own right, having long traveled in the same musical spheres, appearing on the same programs and performing in New York City for many years. They first came together as a quartet at the 2022 memorial concert for Mimi Stern-Wolfe, a pianist, conductor, and fixture in the cultural life of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, who specialized in presenting music programs with a social justice or political theme, and who passed away in 2021.
“Our cellist, Mary Wooten, remarked how much we enjoyed playing together as a quartet, and suggested we do it again,” said Darcy. “So I suggested that we perform in Hunter, and the CMF graciously presented our debut concert in 2023. We named ourselves after the song we performed together at Mimi’s memorial, a chamber piece by the wonderful composer Mary Carol Warwick. Entitled, “Moss”, the song’s opening line is: “Knowing death so much, I know life”. We loved the song, the poem and the idea of an enduring spirit in nature, art and humanity.
Their upcoming concert at CMF on September 20 marks the start of the ensemble’s third season as “Moss”. On October 26 they will appear at St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery in NYC and at LTV Studios in East Hampton on November 2. These concerts represent their shared love of creating meaningful music together and commitment to keeping Mimi’s remarkable legacy alive.
Honoring Mimi Stern-Wolfe
A great lover of humanity and of music, Mimi Stern-Wolfe’s impact on life in New York, particularly in her “home turf” of the Lower East Side, was immeasurable. She organized, played and directed concerts of music, dance, poetry and art. Her concerts were always musically based, but often were also themed, dealing with political and human issues like civil rights, breast cancer, ecology, feminism, workers rights, the effects of war and the Holocaust.
She championed contemporary composers and poets; choreographers and players. Her programs were presented in a vast variety of venues over half a century and she ran a concert series at St. Marks-in-the Bowery for decades. She was invited to present work at Lincoln Center and many other arts institutions across the U.S. Her most famous concert series—the Benson AIDS Series—began in 1990 following the death of her friend Eric Benson, a tenor claimed by AIDS. The AIDS concerts were held almost every year until Mimi’s passing, to “promote the work of gifted composers and musicians who are fighting H.I.V./AIDS and to preserve the creative legacy of those who have already died.”
“The scope of her programming was extraordinary,” said Marshall. “Her concerts were everything from three people doing just a small chamber concert, to a full blown production. She had a lot of experience working with children’s theater and opera, and had an enormous influence on contemporary composers by bringing so many works forward and giving so many opportunities. She commissioned my first opera, and the very first performance of my music was at one of her concerts.
Music Program Highlights
Classical Composers: Mozart, Bach, Fauré, Massenet, Shostakovich
Pianist Elizabeth Rodgers, herself a champion of contemporary composers, is excited about the inclusion of both traditional and contemporary repertory in all of the Moss programs. “Some of the music this season I’m learning for the first time. I love that.” she adds. “All four of us come from the downtown new music world, as well as the traditional classical world. Last year, we proudly presented three debuts of new works – one of which was our first commissioned piece, a very exciting first for us as an ensemble. This season we have no debuts on the program, but several wonderful newer pieces, including an encore performance of Marshall’s “Fantasia”. And, as always, we perform in different combinations – sometimes you will hear all four of us, sometimes just one or two, which is another of our signatures.”
Contemporary Voices: Chris DeBlasio, Douglas Anderson, Marshall Coid
Two songs on this year’s program are by the late composer, Chris DeBlasio, one of the composers featured in the Benson AIDS concerts. The first piece is a dark comic piece, on a poem by Ilsa Gilbert, about a woman, married to a successful opera singer, who seems to have everything; and the second is a tragic, haunting song that Mr. DeBlasio wrote when he was sick with AIDS. Set to an exquisite poem by Perry Brass, the song imagines Walt Whitman ministering to dying young men in a hospital ward in 1989 – much as he did in the battle fields of the Civil War a century before. The song is filled with pain and compassion and is a jewel of the late 20th century repertory, as well as the AIDS Quilt Songbook.
The program will be accompanied by stories that help illuminate the music and hopefully excite and move you, and a post-concert reception will give you the chance to meet the performers and hopefully engage in some lively discussion. “It’s so rewarding to me as a composer and performer to meet the audience and speak with them,” said Marshall. “If you feel like you’ve planted a seed or opened a perception with your music, it makes it all that much more meaningful.”
About the Musicians
Each of these musicians relates to each other not only through their love of music, but through their long histories working in NYC. “I’ve crossed paths and worked with these performers for many, many years,” said Elizabeth. “Marshall and I go way, way back. And I can’t remember the first time Darcy and I crossed paths. We’ve been on the same programs for years, and enjoyed each other’s work! But it wasn’t until the Memorial that we all four performed on the same piece and felt the pull to work as an ensemble.”
Marshall continues, “we’ve all worked together quite a bit. There’s a commonality among us in being very serious and curious about getting deep into the music. With Darcy, not only does she always deliver a stunning performance, but there’s lots of thought behind her choices and her material.”
Marshall Coid – Counter-tenor, Violinist, Composer
Marshall Coid, of Andes/NYC, has been described by The New York Times as “astonishingly versatile” for his multidisciplinary career as a counter-tenor, violinist, actor, director, conductor, composer, writer, and educator. Since graduating from The Juilliard School, he has been featured in live TV broadcasts from the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center and has appeared solo at such prestigious venues as the United Nations, Library of Congress, National Cathedral (DC), St. John The Divine (Artist-in Residence 1990-1996), MOMA, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Morgan Library, Guggenheim Museum, Steppenwolf Theatre, Spoleto Festival USA/Italy, Oxford University, International Performers Festival (Belgium), and many more. Four decades on Broadway include roles in Barnum (where he played violin on the high wire), Ghetto, Rags (six characters) and Chicago (onstage violin soloist since 1996).
Marshall’s long collaboration with Mimi Stern-Wolfe culminated in a 2019 NY Philharmonic recital performance curated by Academy Award winning composer, John Corigliano. Marshall’s award-winning music for film, dance, opera, concert and theater has received critical acclaim since the 1980s and will be featured in a Composers Concordance NYC/Live-Streamed performance this spring.
Darcy Dunn – Mezzo-Soprano
Darcy Dunn sings chamber opera, classical music and new works in NYC and is a founding member and featured performer of the Magic Circle Opera, as well as a graduate of Magic Circle training, under Ray Evans Harrell. She has performed leading roles with Chelsea Opera, Bronx Opera, Encompass Opera, Opera Manhattan, and Downtown Music Productions, and has been a featured soloist at the Windham Chamber Music Festival. Darcy and her husband, Mark Singer, have a long-standing connection with the Catskill Mountain Foundation: together, with musical director Julia Mendelsohn, they were the Catskill Mountain Foundation’s first live performers in 1998, giving a concert in the Red Barn at its opening.
Performing regularly at CMF in its early years, they helped create CMF’s Mountaintop Celebration of Song, which included original musical reviews by Mark, with musical arrangements by Julia, including: “A Little Bit in Love”, “Headliners and One-Liners”, “Weill’d About You”, “They’re Playing Your Song”, and “Ain’t We Got Fun”. Darcy, Mark and Julia will return to the Doctorow this season on November 15 for a revival of their Catskills show, “Headliners and One-liners”. And in February, 2025, the trio will present, “All Mankind Has Lost its Reason” in NYC – a new show about Weimar Germany, written by Mark, and told through the music of the period.
Elizabeth Rodgers – Pianist
A born-and-bred New Yorker, like Mimi, collaborative pianist Elizabeth Rodgers is in demand as a recitalist with singers and instrumentalists, including the distinguished soprano Judith Raskin, and in chamber music, orchestral, choral, and operatic repertoire. She performs regularly with Downtown Music, Music Under Construction, American Chamber Opera, New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, American Landmark Festivals, and Libero Canto. Her teaching experience includes Manhattan School of Music, Bard and William Paterson College.
A strong advocate of performing the works of living composers, she has premiered music by Miriam Gideon, Marc-Antonio Consoli, Wendy Griffiths, Tom Addison, Carolyn Lord, Joelle Wallach, Robert Dennis, Justine Chen, and Melissa Shifflet. She has recorded with Opus 1, Grenadilla, CRI, Musical Heritage, New World, and Albany.
“I knew Mimi for over 30 years,” said Elizabeth, “and not only was she a conductor and an entrepreneur, but she was a fabulous pianist. When she was conducting a large piece that included piano, she asked me to play. The piano is how we related to each other.”
Mary Wooten – Cellist
Cellist Mary Wooten moves with agility among musical styles from classical, to jazz and pop improvisation, to commercial, to the avant-garde. A founding member of the Soldier and Sirius string quartets, Ms. Wooten is a pioneer who helped propel the classical string world toward new ventures in improvisation and electronically-altered instruments. As quartet cellist she has premiered new music at Lincoln Center, Minneapolis’ Walker Art Center, the LA County Museum of Art, and on John Shaffer’s New Sounds series for NPR. Collaborations with John Zorn, Elliot Sharp, and Douglas Cuomo leading to performances at new music locales and jazz festivals in New York, Montreal, Amsterdam, Vienna, Cologne, Berlin, and Tokyo.
Mary plays in Broadway orchestras and has performed at the New York Shakespeare Festival with Meryl Streep. Her studio recording credits include many TV commercials, movie soundtracks, and sessions with Billy Joel, Sheryl Crow, Joe Jackson, Kenny Werner, Jane Ira Bloom, and David Bowie, among others.
“My fellow Moss Ensemble members are such wonderful musicians, artists and colleagues”, said Darcy. “It is such a joy. We love working together, we love the music, and it feels very special to me to be included in this group. And very special to be back at the CMF as well.”
Event Details
The Moss Ensemble performs at the Catskill Mountain Foundation’s Doctorow Center for the Arts, 7971 Main Street, Hunter on Saturday, September 20 at 7:00 pm. Tickets purchased ahead are $25 adults; $20 seniors; $7 students. Higher at-the-door ticket prices apply. For tickets, visit catskillmtn.org, call 518 263 2063 or email boxoffice@catskillmtn.org.
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