Grace Farms Lectures with Concert | Dr. Miroslav Volf
Saturday, February 7, 2026, 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
What is a life worth living?
Join one of the most significant theologians of our time, Dr. Miroslav Volf, Founding Director of Yale Center for Faith & Culture, as he explores the global need for grace, forgiveness and true generosity. For Volf, this is a step toward a world in which every person can wrestle with life’s most important questions and take hold of a life worthy of our humanity. Volf is the author of more than 20 books, including Exclusion & Embrace — which was named one of the best 100 religious books of the twentieth century.
His talk will be followed by a moving chamber music concert featuring some of today’s most celebrated musicians: Adrian Anantawan & Lun Li, violins; Celia Hatton, viola; and Arlen Hlusko, cello. This string quartet will perform a musical program responding to Volf’s body of work, with pieces deeply rooted in spirituality. The program is curated by Grace Farms Artist-in-Residence, Arlen Hlusko.
Schedule:
3 – 3:45 pm
Dr. Miroslav Volf delivers Grace Farms Lecture
3:45 – 4 pm
Tea & Coffee Break
4 – 5 pm
Chamber Music Performance
Begin your Grace Farms Lecture experience with a Life Worth Living Workshop, led by Drew Collins, Associate Research Scholar from the Yale Center for Faith & Culture, from 1 – 2:30 pm on Saturday, February 7th. Register separately.
About Dr. Miroslav Volf
Professor Volf is the founding Director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. His books include Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation (1996; revised edition, 2019), winner of the Grawemeyer Award in Religion and named one of Christianity Today’s 100 most important religious books of the 20th Century; Flourishing: Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World (2016); The Home of God: A Brief Story of Everything (2022), co-authored with Ryan McAnnally-Linz; and, most recently, co-authored with Matthew Croasmun and Ryan McAnnally-Linz, Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most (2023).
A member of the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. and the Evangelical Church in Croatia, Professor Volf has been involved in international ecumenical dialogues (for instance, with the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity) and interfaith dialogues (including the Muslim and Christian “A Common Word” initiative), as well as a participant in the Global Agenda Council on Values of the World Economic Forum. A native of Croatia, he regularly teaches and lectures in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, and across North America. Amongst his many invited lectureships, he has given the Dudleian Lecture at Harvard University; the Chavasse Lectures at Oxford University; the Waldenstroem Lectures at Stockholm School of Theology; the Gray Lectures at Duke University; the Stob Lectures at Calvin University; and the Cadbury Lectures at the University of Birmingham. In May 2025, he will deliver the Gifford Lectures in Aberdeen, UK.
about the musicians
Arlen Hlusko, cello
Hailed for her “sublime cello prowess” (Take Effect), “absorbing originality” (Gramophone), and “mesmerizing beauty” (NY Music Daily), internationally acclaimed Canadian cellist Arlen Husk is a dynamic, versatile artist who has performed extensively as soloist and chamber musician across North & South Americas, Asia, and Europe. She is “capable of playing with great delicacy but also fearlessness; regardless of the character of the material, she executes it with authority and conviction […] and open-hearted expression is present throughout” (Textura). Arlen has performed solo recitals from Tippet Rise to Carnegie Hall to Toronto’s Summer Music in the Gardens to the Guangzhou Opera House and beyond, and is the cellist of the Bang on a Can All-Stars sextet (extolled by the New York Times for “combining the power and punch of a rock band with the precision and clarity of a chamber ensemble”). She regularly performs with ensembles including The Knights, Dolce Suono Ensemble, and the Manhattan Chamber Players; is a member of the Harry Chapin Band; and recent alumna of the Curtis Institute of Music and Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect.
She is currently the Artist-in-Residence at Grace Farms in New Canaan, CT, where she is performing regularly as both soloist and chamber musician, as well as curating chamber music performances and musical community experiences, and directing the musical half of their brand new Lecture-Concert series.
Adrian Anantawan, violin
Adrian Anantawan holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, Yale University and Harvard Graduate School of Education. As a violinist, he has studied with Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, and Anne-Sophie Mutter; his academic work in education was supervised by Howard Gardner. Memorable moments include performances at the White House, the Opening Ceremonies of the Athens and Vancouver Olympic Games and the United Nations. Adrian helped to create the Virtual Chamber Music Initiative at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab Centre. The cross-collaborative project brings researchers, musicians, doctors and educators together to develop adaptive musical instruments capable of being played by a young person with disabilities within a chamber music setting. He is also the founder of the Music Inclusion Program, aimed at having children with disabilities learn instrumental music with their typical peers. He is the current Chair of Music at Milton Academy, the Artistic Director of Shelter Music Boston and is on faculty at Berklee College of Music. Throughout the year, Adrian continues to perform, speak and teach around the world as an advocate for disability and the arts.
Lun Li, violin
Violinist Lun Li is committed to creating thought-provoking, boundary-pushing concert experiences for contemporary audiences. A native of Shanghai, he won the 2021 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, along with the Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize, the Buffalo Chamber Music Society Prize, and was named John French Violin Chair at YCA.
He has appeared as concerto soloist with the Bangor Symphony, Kennett Square Symphony, Colgate University Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, Meridian Symphony, Salina Symphony, and McCall Summer Festival Orchestra, as well as with the Brevard Philharmonic, Aiken Symphony, University of South Carolina Symphony, Salisbury Symphony, and the Riverside Symphony at Alice Tully Hall. Upcoming concerto appearances include the Kyoto and Osaka Symphonies.
Lun made his New York recital debut at Merkin Hall and his Washington, D.C. debut at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, both presented by Young Concert Artists. He has since appeared at The Morgan Library & Museum, Caramoor, Brookings Chamber Music Society, Brooklyn Chamber Music Society, Bay Chamber Concerts, Tippet Rise Art Center, and with the Jupiter Chamber Players. He also collaborated with Pulitzer Prize–winning composer and performer Du Yun at the Asia Society in New York Internationally, he has also performed at Konzerthaus Berlin, Wiener Konzerthaus, and Kulturpalast Dresden.
This season, Lun was featured on the opening night of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at Alice Tully Hall. A member of CMS’s Bowers Program, he has toured extensively with the Society, including in China.
Lun holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, where he completed an Artist Diploma as teaching assistant to Catherine Cho. He performs on the 1735 “Samazeuilh” Stradivarius, generously on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.
Celia Hatton, viola
Celia Hatton, NYC-based violist, has performed across Asia, Australia, Europe, South America, and the US. Her playing can be heard on several Grammy-winning works, including as Principal Violist on Experiential Orchestra’s album The Prison and Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds. She is a member of A Far Cry, Principal Viola of Sphinx Virtuosi, and Co-Principal of Chamber Orchestra of New York. Hatton has performed with ECCO, The Knights, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. An Adjunct Professor at Adelphi University, she has given masterclasses at Colburn Music Academy, New York University, and Vanderbilt University. Hatton holds a Bachelor’s Degree from New England Conservatory, where she studied with Kim Kashkashian, and a Master’s Degree from Manhattan School of Music with Karen Dreyfus.
Grace Farms Lectures with Concert
Experience a moving afternoon of chamber music and dialogue, while immersed in 360-degree views of the surrounding natural landscape.
Visionary leaders who have shaped our world share a thought-provoking portrait of their life’s work on the Grace Farms Sanctuary stage, inviting you to explore central themes and fundamental questions that define their distinguished careers. A special chamber music concert follows the talk, performed by some of today’s most celebrated musicians. This unique musical program thoughtfully responds to the lecturer’s creative output, making for a one-of-a-kind experience rooted in hope, scholarship, and innovation.
We all build
2025-2026 season
Our 10 Year Season offers a full schedule of programming intentionally rooted in the theme, We all build. What we choose to build — and how we design and build it — are questions explored at Grace Farms and through our Design for Freedom movement. This season offers unforgettable experiences including one-of-a-kind concerts, nature workshops, wellness tea retreats, and programs spotlighting world-renowned leaders, prolific thinkers, and thought-provoking creatives—inviting people of all ages to come to Grace Farms and consider their individual and collective power to build a better world.
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