Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Solon Gordon performed in Grace Farms’ Sanctuary,
the world’s only fully-enclosed glass performing arts space
Grace Farms celebrated a transformative weekend on January 10-11 with the launch of its innovative Lecture with Concert series. Sharon Prince, CEO and Founder of Grace Farms, delivered the inaugural lecture. The following day, Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Solon Gordon performed to a sold-out crowd of 700 in Grace Farms’ Sanctuary, the world’s only fully-enclosed glass performing arts space. It is the first time Yo-Yo Ma and Solon Gordon have performed a recital together.
The Grace Farms Lecture with Concert series introduces a new concept in which music and ideas converge in dialogue with one another. Grace Farms’ Artist-in-Residence and renown cellist Arlen Hlusko curates each concert as a direct response to the lecturer’s life’s work.
On January 10, Prince opened the series by sharing her remarkable journey and determination to create a boundary-defying space that is free and open to the public, nurtures grace and peace, and connects people to achieve new outcomes. Since opening ten years ago, Grace Farms has welcomed one million visitors to encounter nature, arts, justice, community, and faith.
“We all build – our homes, our families, our work and our future. Consider grace and peace as you build,” said Prince in her lecture. “We have tremendous agency to participate in creating a more just, equitable world through how we build and which values we prioritize.”
Prince’s lecture was followed by a specially curated chamber music performance featuring an ensemble of 13 extraordinary musicians, including MacArthur Fellows, GRAMMY nominees, Avery Fisher career grant recipients, and Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipients: Jennifer Frautschi, Vijay Gupta, Blake Pouliot & Michelle Ross, violins; Ayane Kozasa & Melissa Reardon, violas; Gabriel Cabezas & Arlen Hlusko, cellos; Anthony Manzo, bass; Pallavi Mahidhara, piano; Emi Ferguson, flute; Yoonah Kim, clarinet; and Gina Cuffari, bassoon. The artists were selected by Hlusko to express the theme of ingenuity that has defined Prince’s remarkable career and life’s work.
The weekend culminated on Sunday, January 11 with a sold-out recital by Yo-Yo Ma and Solon Gordon, accompanied by the backdrop of nature and Grace Farms’ 80 acres of landscape visible behind the performance.
The recital program included Five Pieces in Folk Style, Op. 102 (Robert Schumann), Cello Sonata, L. 135 (Claude Debussy), 4 Romantic Pieces (Antonín Dvořák), The Hanging Garden (Branford Marsalis), and Sonata in A Major for Violin & Piano (César Franck).
“These programs were uniquely designed for Grace Farms in response to this landscape, architecture, and season. The Music at Grace Farms concert series, including this past weekend’s performance by Yo-Yo Ma, creates shared gatherings that reveal humanity’s potential to inspire one another. Through the connection to the land and to eachother, we can find deeper meaning and a shared commitment to create a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world,” said Founding Creative Director Chelsea Thatcher. Thatcher developed the Lecture with Concert and Music at Grace Farms series as part of Grace Farms’ 10-year anniversary celebration, centered on the theme “We all build.”
The Grace Farms Lecture with Concert series will continue throughout 2026, bringing together world-renowned thinkers and musicians in this innovative format that recognizes the intersection of transformative ideas and art. Dr. Miroslav Volf, leading religious thinker and Founding Director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture and Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, botanist and New York Times bestselling author, will give the remaining two lectures on February 7 and March 7, respectively.
The string quartet performing February 7 are Adrian Anantawan, violin, who has performed at the Athens and Vancouver Olympic Games, Lun Li, violin, Arlen Hlusko, cello, and Celia Hatton, viola. They will perform works including Arvo Pärt: Fratres. The flute quartet performing March 7 features Alex Sopp, flute, Simone Porter & Owen Dalby, violins; Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola; and Arlen Hlusko, cello. In response to Kimmerer’s work, this musical program features composers who often derive musical inspiration from their relationships with nature, including Mozart, Paul Wiancko, Gabriella Smith, Leilehua Anne Lanzilotti, Reena Esmail, Valerie Coleman, and Joan Tower.
** Grace Farms 2025-2026 Season **
Full Descriptions Available on Grace Farms’ 10 Year Program page
Grace Farms’ 2025-2026 season is sponsored by JPMorganChase.
2025
October 25: Guided Nature Walk | Autumn Stroll
November 1: The Way of an Athlete | A Workshop with Kerri Walsh Jennings
November 1: Aldrich Museum Tour for Grace Farms Members
November 6: Mocktails
November 8: Rest House Workshop with Slade Architecture
November 8: Nature Workshops | Garlic Workshop
November 14: Afternoon Tea
November 15: Move with Grace Farms x lululemon
November 16: Music at Grace Farms: Mon Rovîa
November 19: Journey into the World of Tea
November 28 and 29: Songs of the Season
December 3: Candlelight Yoga and Movement with Pilin Anice
December 5: Gifting for Good
December 7: Cookie Decorating
December 12: Afternoon Tea
December 13: Music at Grace Farms: Broadway Inspirational Voices
December 13: Holiday Market
December 13: Nature Workshops | Sustainable Holiday Décor
December 17: Journey into the World of Tea
December 20: Move with Grace Farms x lululemon
December 27 and 28: Songs of the Season
December 31: Wellness Tea Retreat
2026
Jan-May (monthly): Move with Grace Farms x lululemon & Yoga Series
January 10: Sharon Prince Delivers Inaugural Grace Farms Lecture
January 10: Rest House Workshop with Slade Architecture
January 11: Yo-Yo Ma, cello and Solon Gordon, piano
January 16: Afternoon Tea
January 22: Origin Stories: The Empowerment Collective with Nasreen Sheikh
January 28: Journey into the World of Tea
January 29: Mocktails
January 30: Humanity in Architecture Film Festival Reception for Grace Farms Members
January 30 and 31: Humanity in Architecture Film Festival
January 31: Rest House Workshop with Slade Architecture
February 7: Grace Farms Lectures | Dr. Miroslav Volf
February 7: Life Worth Living Workshop led by Drew Collins, Yale Center for Faith & Culture
February 7: Nature Workshops | Seed Starting
February 13: Afternoon Tea
February 20: Cookie Decorating
February 20: Polar Bear Picnic
February 21: Music at Grace Farms | Arlen Hlusko, cello
February 25: Journey into the World of Tea
February 28: Wellness Tea Retreat
March 5: Origin Stories | Prota Fiori with Jennifer Stucko
March 7: Grace Farms Lectures | Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer
March 7: Nature Workshops | Introduction to Permaculture
March 12: Mocktails
March 13: Afternoon Tea
March 18: Journey into the World of Tea
March 26: Design for Freedom Summit
April 10: Afternoon Tea
April 11: Nature Workshop | Berry Fruit Gardening
April 18: Music at Grace Farms | Dianne Reeves with Romero Lubambo
April 25: Earth Day
April 29: Journey into the World of Tea
May 7: Lunch with a Purpose | Julie Wainwright
May 9: Shop with a Purpose | Mindful Market
May 15: Afternoon Tea
May 24: Wellness Tea Retreat
May 27: Journey into the World of Tea
Weekly Children and Family Programs
Imagination Playground – Daily
Bunny Book Group – Fridays, 11 – 11:30 am
Studio Beginnings – Thursdays beginning January 9, 10 am – 12 pm
Open Arts Studio – Thursdays, 3 – 5 pm; Saturdays, 10 am – 2 pm
Tours
Grace Farms Tour – Saturdays, 10:30 am – 12 pm
Private Architecture Tours – Tuesday – Friday, 10:30 am – 12:45 pm
About Grace Farms
Grace Farms is a cultural and humanitarian center in New Canaan, Connecticut that creates more grace and peace in the world, interweaving nature, arts, justice, community, and faith at the SANAA-designed River building and Barns on 80 acres of publicly accessible natural landscape. Since opening in 2015, Grace Farms has welcomed 1 million visitors from around the world to experience its unique integration of arts, architecture, nature, and purpose.
As a destination for arts and culture, Grace Farms presents innovative programming in music, visual and performing arts while fostering contemplation and connection through architecture and nature. Its humanitarian work includes leading the Design for Freedom movement to eliminate forced labor in the building materials supply chain and advancing initiatives to foster more grace and peace locally and globally.
The integration of cultural programming and humanitarian action reflects Grace Farms’ collaborative approach to generating new outcomes and meaningful change.
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Image captions
From top to bottom
- Sharon Prince presents the inaugural Lecture with Concert series
- Sharon Prince and Chelsea Thatcher introduce Yo-Yo Ma and Solon Gordon
- Sharon Prince and Chelsea Thatcher join the musicians onstage in the Sanctuary on Saturday, January 10th.
- A vibrant Grace Farms on Sunday, January 11, for the sold-out performance by Yo-Yo Ma, cello, and Solon Gordon, piano, in the Sanctuary.
