About Us

The Red Skies Music Ensemble combines music, theater and scholarship,
making archives and special collections come alive
through research and performance

Artistic Director/Curator Trudy Williams and Curator/Music Director George Boziwick create and produce original research-based programs that are entertaining and educational for general and expert audiences. Using The Red Skies Music Ensemble's Public History/Public Musicology Performance Model, each program presents in a single setting through the lens of music, an engaging research-based narrative, live music, theatrical vignettes and large screen images of archival materials and artifacts. These elements are combined in a humanities approach to bring the audience on an experiential journey that connects the dots between fascinating historical and cultural facts and interpretations, many of which have been dimmed in social memory, omitted, or hidden in plain sight. Programs include a sing-along component and conclude with a Q&A, often with a guest expert.

We welcome the chance to create new programs or adapt our existing ones for libraries, museums, historical societies, and educational institutions, related to their archives, artifacts, special collections, and exhibits, as well as for independent scholars, curators, researchers, and community members. < More: The Red Skies Tent >

The Red Skies Music Ensemble co-founders commit to producing programs, and seeking places for performance, that share our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and indigenous land acknowledgement in their values, practices and staffing.

Trudy Williams (Artistic Director, Curator, Co-Founder) holds a PhD in Developmental Psychology from the City University of New York. In 2009, Trudy's love of music, community theater, American History, museums and libraries, led her develop a model for directly bringing to the stage, in humanities-based public history/public musicology shows, research results and meanings found in the archives, collections and exhibits of museums, libraries and historical societies. Using music of a times as the portal, audiences are taken on an experiential journey that connects the dots between then-and-now fascinating historical and cultural facts and interpretations, many of which have been dimmed in social memory, omitted, or hidden in plain sight. This model combines in a ninety-minute show a research-based narrative, live music, theatrical vignettes, large screen artifact images, and an audience participation part, to give audiences a multi-sensory engagement with the collections, archival material and exhibits of big and small museums, libraries and historical societies. In 2010 she invited George Boziwick, a long time musical friend, to join her in co-founding The Red Skies Music Ensemble to put the model in action. In 2017, she presented the model at the Annual Meeting of the National Council on Public History (NCPH). In 2019 Trudy received an American Antiquarian Society Visiting Fellowship for Historical Research by Creative and Performing Artists and Writers for her program currently in development: Complex Harmony: Music, Walt Whitman, and the Railroads. For more about this program, see Artists In The Archives/American Antiquarian Society.

Trudy plays acoustic-electric bass in a variety of styles and settings (concerts, contra dances, and home music making) as well as improvisational piano. She is a member of the community-based Fiddle Orchestra of Western Massachusetts.

George Boziwick (Curator, Musical Director, Co-Founder) is a composer whose works have been widely performed. His composition Magnificat is published by C.F. Peters, and his music is recorded on the Opus One label. He holds an MA in music composition from Hunter College and a Master of Library Service from Columbia University. George retired from The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in 2017 after a 31 year career as a music librarian, the last 11 years as Chief of the Music Division. He has helped bring in major collections to the Library including those of Meredith Monk, Leon Kirchner, Jerry Bock and the American Music Center score collection. George has delivered papers and moderated sessions at major conferences, and has contributed articles on music and musicians to Notes: The Journal of the Music Library Association, American Music, the Routledge Encyclopedia of the Blues and the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

As a composer, his works have been performed throughout the world by numerous ensembles including the Goliard Ensemble and the Dorian Wind Quintet. His Magnificat, published by C. F. Peters, was performed in December, 2011 at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in NYC. Recordings of his music are available on the Opus One label. For more information about his works and to hear recordings and view scores, visit www.georgeboziwick.com.

George has written four papers and a blog post based on The Red Skies Music Ensemble's co-authored programs: "'Take Me Out to the Ball Game:' The Story of Katie Casey and Our National Pastime" was published in 2012 both online and in Base Ball: A Journal of the Early Game, edited by John Thorn, the official historian for Major League Baseball. His blog post "Emily Dickinson's Music Book (EDR 469)" was written for and published by the Houghton Library, Harvard University, and was one of the Houghton Library's ten most popular posts for 2013. His article "'My Business is to Sing:' Emily Dickinson's Musical Borrowings" was published in the Journal of the Society for American Music, volume 8, Special Issue no. 2, Spring, 2014. His article "Emily Dickinson's Music Book: A Performative Exploration" was published in the The Emily Dickinson Journal, Volume XXV, Number 1, 2016 by John Hopkins University Press for The Emily Dickinson International Society. George's Book Emily Dickinson's Music Book and the Musical Life of an American Poet is published by the University of Massachusetts Press, 2022. Link to annotated appendix and audio clips.

The harmonica has been an important activity since age sixteen. George has performed and recorded with blues artists Bob Gaddy and Larry Dale, and has performed with rhythm-and-blues great Roscoe Gordon. He has had the privilege of sitting in with many fine musicians, including blues artist Billy Branch. George enjoys most of all the challenge of performing in a variety of styles from blues, country and bluegrass to traditional Irish music.

The Red Skies Music Ensemble Performance Roster

Brendan Dolan holds a Master's degree in Irish and Irish-American Studies from New York University, where he processed the Mick Moloney Irish-American Music and Popular Culture Collection in the Archives of Irish America at Tamiment Library. A member of Pride of New York featuring Joanie Madden, Billy McComiskey and Brain Conway, Brendan can also be heard on the latest recordings of Mick Maloney"s the Green Fields of America, as well as Pride of New York, Live at Mona's, Billy McComiskey's Outside the Box, Brian Conway's Consider the Source, Mick Moloney's Far From the Shamrock Shore, McNally's Row of Flats, and If It Wasn't For the Irish and the Jews. Brendan has also performed with non-Irish musicians such classical violinist Itzhak Perlman, and klezmer clarinetist-mandolinist Andy Statman. He has taught traditional music for many years at the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, West Virginia, and at the Catskills Irish Arts Week in East Durham, New York. He works as an archivist and teaches privately in the New York City area. He is currently teaching instrumental music at Avenues: The World School.

Ed Alstrom, Organist for the New York Yankees. As a special guest, Ed played piano for the reprise in the premier of Take Me Out to the Ball Game.

Elise Toscano is a New York City actress and singer who holds a BFA in Drama with Honors from NYU Tisch/The Stella Adler Studio of Acting. She has performed in NYC as well as regionally, including the Seven Stages Shakespeare Company in their Portsmouth, New Hampshire productions of Much Ado About Nothing (Hero) and As You Like It (Celia). She has been a members of The Shakespeare Forum. In addition to her interest in Shakespeare, she has has a long standing passion for Irish traditional folk and bluegrass music.

Matthew Christian is a fiddle player based in Brooklyn, NY. As a kid in Vermont, his interest in folk music was piqued by kitchen dances with family friend Dudley Laufman. A recipient of the 2019 Flanders Award for Vermont Traditional Music, Matthew has specialized in Irish music and now teaches privately and hosts several vibrant sessions. Find out more about Matthew at matthewchristianmusic.com

Matt Snyder Performing jazz, rock and Jewish music in New York since the mid-1990s, Matt has also been the clarinetist for over a decade
with the Shul Band, the house band for the Shul of New York on the Lower East Side. He has also been the longtime baritone saxophonist for pianist Mike Longo's 17-piece big band. Matt has played with Seth Ginsberg's Madtown Special, the pianist John Fischer, the Lower East Side Hot Club, clarinet legend Perry Robinson, Clarence Clemons and George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic. He studied clarinet with James Campbell, saxophone with Danny Bank and improvisation with Ted Dunbar, David Baker and Mike Longo. Matt is also a music archivist with The New York Public Library.

Adrienne Wade (Cello) After studying cello performance and Suzuki cello pedagogy at Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver, Adrienne returned home to Western Massachusetts. She enjoys playing and performing locally whenever the opportunity arises, but is really most proud to be an advocate for public school music education. She teaches cello at Westfield State University and Holyoke Community College. In the Holyoke Public School system, she runs a string program which is very dear to her heart.

Colin Harte (Music Curator/Music Director for Music and the Artistry of William Sidney Mount) holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology from the University of Florida’s School of Music, where he co-founded and performed in the UF Irish Traditional Music Ensemble. In 2018 he received his Masters in Educational Leadership from CUNY-Hunter College. His An Bodhrán: Experimentation and Innovation is under contract for publication with Indiana University Press. He has published in The Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, ICTM-Ethnomusicology Ireland, SAGE Encyclopedia of Ethnomusicology, Smithsonian Folkways, New Hibernia Review, Folk Music Journal, Chasqui: Revista de Literatura Latinoamericana, and the Bardian. Colin has also presented at numerous conferences including the Society for Ethnomusicology, American Conference for Irish Studies, Brazilian Studies Association National Conference, International Conference for Traditional Music-Applied Ethnomusicology, the Suncoast Music Education Research Symposium, and others. As a pianist and bodhrán percussionist, he is active in the New York jazz, Latin and Irish traditional music communities. He currently teaches a world music curriculum for the KAPPA High School in the north Bronx where he directs a 41 student Afro-Latin percussion ensemble, keyboard lab, and courses in world music and recording technology. In 2019 he received an NEH grant and a Fulbright Gaeltacht award.

Heather Martin Bixler Heather has performed live on WQXR and as a recitalist and orchestra soloist throughout Canada, Europe, Japan and the United Sates. She has held concertmaster positions with the South Dakota Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de la Mineria in Mexico City and has worked as a substitute violinist with The New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, American Symphony and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, as well as shows on Broadway. In addition, she has appeared in music videos with Maria Carey, Shania Twain, Jewel and Donna Summer, and has been Concertmaster of the Garden State Philharmonic in Lakewood, NJ. A number of years ago, Heather won the Third Medal for the Senior Slow Airs at the All-Ireland fleadh in Donegal, Ireland. Since then she has performed and taught Irish music throughout the United States, Canada and Ireland, as well as playing as a guest on several prominent Irish musicians’ solo recordings.

Laura Hankin is an actor, singer, and writer who has performed off-Broadway and on-screen. Favorite credits include Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest, Wanda in Wanda's Monster (a New York Times Critic's Pick) and a music teacher in the Noah Baumbach movie While We're Young. Her debut novel, The Summertime Girls, was published by Penguin Random House. The web series she co-created and co-stars in, Emergency Contacts, was recently named an official selection of the Brooklyn Web Fest, and the feminist comedy videos she makes with her sketch duo Hurdy Blurdy have been featured in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and WhoHaHa.

Catherine Miller enjoys an active career as a collaborative pianist. New York performances, as soloist and in collaboration with singers, dancers and instrumentalists, have included Carnegie Weill Hall, the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center, New York City Center and Saint Peter's Church. She was an accompanist at the Mannes College of Music in the College, Extension and Preparatory divisions, playing for lessons, juries, recitals, opera workshops and song literature classes. Catherine’s present and past work has been with several regional opera companies including Amore Opera, Regina Opera, New York Lyric Opera, Encompass Opera and the little OPERA theatre of ny (LOTNY). With LOTNY since its founding in 2004, she is currently the Associate Music Director. A native of Kansas City, where she received her undergraduate training at the Conservatory of Music/UMKC, Catherine has been privileged to coach with pianist Elizabeth Rich in New York.

Pier Campbell is a graduate of the William Esper Studio in NYC. Credits include lead roles with Love Creek Productions and the F.I.G Theatre Company, as well as Thelma in The Trip to Bountiful. She also is appearing in a lead role in Coming Out of Harlem.

Francesco Stabile holds degrees in classical guitar from Conservatory S. Giacomantonio in Cosenza, Italy and in composition and arranging from St. Louis College of Music in Rome. Trained in jazz, pop, blues and other vernacular styles, Francesco’s work appears on two Picanto-label jazz CDs with the groups Wishlist and the SMAF Quartet. He has performed through out Europe with The MOODs DUO, as well as in festivals including the Villa Celimontana, Terni In Jazz and the Cosenza Jazz Festival.

Sebastian McLaughlin comes from Buncrana, Co. Donegal, Ireland. He plays tenor banjo, mandolin and guitar. Coming from the renowned Irish Musician family Tourish in Donegal, he has played extensively throughout Ireland and the US as well as Europe with various folk groups. He has performed with a number of groups in Ireland and the United States, such as the famous Irish folk band The Dublin City Ramblers (Ireland), George Murphy & The Black Donnelly’s (Ireland), Sean McNally & Co. Band (United States), and Streams of Whiskey (United Sates), among others. He has played at various Irish Festivals across the US including, Gaelic Park Irish Festival, Jersey City Irish Festival, Kilt Fest, Connecticut Irish Music Festival and more. He has appeared on TV in the US on the PBS “Finding Your Roots” and Irish TV as well as well as RTE Radio 1 in Ireland. He also appears on recordings by Streams of Whiskey, Band of Rogues, Sean McNally and Meredith Rachael. Sebastian continues to perform weekly at his residency at historical Fraunces Tavern in downtown Manhattan.

Joshua Ruff is the Deputy Director of the Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages (a Smithsonian Affiliate). He has produced in collaboration with Trudy Williams two Red Skies Tent programs on W.S. Mount as companions to two museum exhibits.

Daniel Scott (Percussion) was born and raised in the Pioneer Valley. He has always possessed apassion for music. Self-taught at the age of 10, he has played with many bands and songwriters in various styles at churches, camps, festivals, and studios all over New England. His current gigs are Revelation 19:6, The Machine Shop, and Tommy Filiault.

Tom Scott (Guitar) recently retired after thirty-four years as the machinist for the University of Massachusetts Astronomy Department. He is co-founder with Ron Grosslein of the long-running UMass Machine Shop Jam Session. He plays in the trio Leo Stopp and the Shaders, and was the guitarist for the bands Trio Deschamps and The Enfield Machine Works Band.

Jared Libby (Sound Engineer) is a Western MA sound engineer whose work spans from intimate performance settings, such as Northampton's Parlor Room performances and live streams, to regional festivals such as the Green River Festival. He is the physical distribution manager for Signature Sounds and is also a multi-instumentalist, performer, recording artist and music teacher.

Jeaninne Intriago, a fashion designer in New York City, created the costume for The Musical Parlor of Emily Dickinson based on historical research.

Don Meade (Contributing Curator, The Musical Parlor of Emily Dickinson and Irish Traditions) plays fiddle, banjo and harmonica. Don began playing fiddle by studying with Paddy Reynolds, learning from tapes of Lad O’Beirne and other great fiddlers of the 1950’s and 60’s. In 1987, he won the All-Ireland Mouth Organ Championship in 1987 at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Listowel, and, around that time, took over running the weekly concerts at the Eagle. Changing venues eventually brought the series to Glucksman Ireland House on the New York University campus. For more than 25 years, Don Meade’s moving musical feast continues to present the finest Irish and Irish-American traditional musicians to New York audiences. Don also has been a traditional music columnist for ten years for the Irish Voice newspaper and has contributed articles on Irish music to Current Musicology, New Hibernia Review, New York Irish History and Fintan Vallely's The Companion to Irish Traditional Music. Don served as the first Artistic Director (for six years) of the Catskills Irish Arts Week in East Durham, New York, and remains on the teaching staff of that annual event. He currently leads a weekly session at Manhattan’s Landmark Tavern and is a member of the Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra, directed by NYU Professor Mick Moloney.

Sara Banleigh (Vocals, piano, theatrical cameos) is a singer, songwriter and arranger of original and traditional folk music. She is a frequent performer at the New England Folk Festival and for folk dances around New York City. Sara has performed at Lincoln Center and The Institute for Sacred Music at Yale University, and has been a proud artist-in-residence at NYC public schools, where she directs performances and musicals, and teaches students historical folk music. She received the award for Best Folk Arrangement for her track Railroad Boy off her album The Folk EP. That record and her recent album Secrets to Tell have received critical acclaim and enjoy radio and streaming success.

George Marshall is a full-time musician/caller/dance teacher who tours nationally throughout the year with the band Wild Asparagus. While most of the time he can be found calling/playing with the Wild Asparagus or Swallowtail, he also calls with the Clayfoot Strutters, Mavish, Great Bear, Perpetual e-Motion, and other touring contra bands. George's specialty is teaching and calling in the New England-style contra dances he has collected throughout the country. He also plays concertina and bodhran, and has recorded on eight albums. George produces music and dance events including week-long winter dance vacations in the Caribbean and on Hawaii.

Max Carmichael (Multi-instrumentalist) is adept at guitar, octave mandolin, banjo and flute. His diverse musical influences have led him from country blues to Hindustani classical to traditional Irish and old time music. Originally from Red Bank, NJ, he makes his home in the Hudson Valley leading sessions and performing for contra dances in the area.

Rebecca Rose Weiss (fiddle) eagerly learns from elder musicians about community music and the old days and tunes. She grew up in the Washington DC area, steeped in Appalachian, Irish, and contra dance music communities thanks to tradition-bearing mentors. Her first contra dance band tour involved being adopted by the Polka Pants Band (Andrea Hoag, David Kaynor, Charlie Pilzer) for a road trip around the country wearing poofy pants and playing for dances from Seattle to Kentucky. Now she is based in Western Massachusetts and has been following around a variety of New Englanders in hopes of absorbing not only rock solid contra dance rhythm but also winter driving tips. You can hear her at contra dances and community events around the region, playing with the band Joy Factor as well as in various other configurations. She especially likes to play harmony fiddle, compose tunes and poems at random moments, and help other people learn how to connect with each other through music (often through anchoring community dance bands or teaching workshops). www.rebeccaroseweiss.com

Sean Mahony (Guest Musical Director, Take Me Out to the Ball Game) Since graduating from the Manhattan School of Music and Juilliard, Sean has performed with the New York Philharmonic, onstage and in recordings, as well as Broadway's Rags, starring Teresa Stratas, and Dancin'. He has led the Rockefeller Rainbow Room Orchestra performing also as vocal and trombone soloist. He has performed with Ray Charles, Marvin Hamlisch, the Chieftains, Johnny Mathis, Dinah Shore, Al Martino, Tommy Tune and Jimmy Roselli.

Rob Meador is a founding member of the bluegrass bands Slackjaw, The East River Boys, and The Highland Shatners. He has also played with and produces a number of singer/songwriters including Amy Allison, Paul Sachs and Marc Berger. Rob co-wrote, performed and co-produced Waterways for The Construction Site multi-media performance group. He also has performed in dance/performance pieces with the Brooklyn-based Spoke the Hub Dancing, including their 2004 Saraswati project at Lincoln Center.

Sigali Hamberger A native of Houston, Sigali is a classically trained, dramatic soprano, who favors a repertoire from the American Songbook, as well as classic and contemporary Broadway. A Toast to Ava Gardner, her most recent cabaret act, was widely praised by Cabaret Scenes Magazine, The Village Voice and Time Out New York. Her act was selected by Times Square Chronicles as a “Top 10 Cabaret Pick for 2011.” In addition to her cabaret work, Sigali’s regional theater credits include roles in The King & I, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, She Loves Me, The Mikado, Country Club and A Christmas Carol. She has performed on numerous cabaret stages in New York City, including The Laurie Beechman Theater, The Metropolitan Room and Feinstein’s.

Johnny Cuomo is a seasoned singer and multi-instrumentalist, who has performed in a variety of venues throughout the US as well as abroad. As the leader of highly successful traditional Irish sessions in the heart on NYC for over a decade, Johnny's musical style has flourished into one that fuses modern folk rock with an innovative Irish twist. When he is not playing out of the region, Johnny splits his time between festival appearances, weekly performances in and around NYC, and regional private engagements. Johnny has performed at many beloved venues and historic sites on the Island, from the Five Boroughs to the Hamptons on the South and Greenport on the North. Most recently he spent the month of July teaching at the Fairbanks Arts Festival in Fairbanks, Alaska. In addition to his traditional Irish and Folk repertoire, Johnny is also a certified NYS teacher and has fused his musical abilities with his teaching experience to create a unique offering of Children’s cultural arts programs, featuring folk-tales and music from around the world. His talents have been featured on a number of original and traditional recordings including ‘Manhattan Island Sessions,’ by Caitlin Warbelow and the Grammy winning album ‘Modern Vampires in the City’ by Vampire Weekend.

Phil Forbes performed regularly with Steve Chapin featuring repertoire from the American Songbook. He was also a designer, builder, sculptor and singer.

Heidi Hackney is an actor, folk singer, and founding member of CiBTheater. Favorite acting credits include Meredith in the premier of Raise Me Up (Red Leaf Theater), Carlyle in The Stonewater Rapture (Binc Theater) and Clytemnestra Two in The Orphan, which she also co-produced for CiBTheater. She regularly sings old songs at Exceedingly Good Song Night hosted by Ken Schatz, and at events such as Youth Traditional Song Weekend and TradMad Camp, and others.

Jonathan Sonneborn is a film historian and lecturer, and writer. In conjunction with his lifelong interest in American music and entertainment, he is a world authority on Al Jolson. Jon is co-founder of Really Good Stuff, a business supporting the work of elementary school teachers.

Leah Wells A singer-songwriter as well as a banjo, mandolin and guitar player, Leah performs regularly in the tri-state area with The Linemen Bluegrass Band and other folk ensembles. She teaches music privately as well as in educational settings. Leah co-authored the book Games That Sing, published in 2011 by Heritage Music Press, which introduces a unique early childhood music curriculum.

Suzanne Lenz is an actress and singer based in Brooklyn, NY. Credits include: Ricki and the Flash (dir. Jonathan Demme), Obvious Child (dir. by Gillian Robespierre) and NBC TV’s show Blindspot. She is the co-creator and co-star of the comedic web series, Joined at the Nip. She also sings with A Band Called Honalee, a folk group inspired by the music and legacy of Peter, Paul and Mary and other folk icons of the 1960s. She can be seen in the upcoming the feature film Baptized By Desire and the short Yes, God, Yes starring Natalia Dyer. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Suzanne studied at Davidson College in North Carolina where she spent time abroad with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the British American Drama Academy in London.

Colin Forhan plays guitar and tenor banjo. He grew up in Takoma Park, MD, and was primarily exposed to American folk music in his youth. A self-taught musician, Colin began attending Irish sessions in 2016 after moving to New York City for work. In 2022, he decided to take the leap to pursue music full-time when he joined Grammy-awarded fiddler Eileen Ivers and her band, Universal Roots. When he’s not touring, he lives in Brooklyn, playing locally and teaching.

Sarah Bluestein (Corn stalk fiddle maker) is a Western MA craftsperson and artist. She has a great time combining historical research and new materials exploration, and can often be found building large scale puppets and working on collaborative community art projects. Sarah loves a design and fabrication challenge, especially the absurd and whimsical!

Shirley Van Kainen (Production Coordinator/Production Assistant) is a retired mechanic, part time musician, and full time caregiver. She plays fiddle and guitar in the Fiddle Orchestra of Western Massachusetts.

Mark Russo (Technical Coordinator) Mark received his B.F.A. in Theatre Design and Technology from the University at Buffalo. His production credits include Audio Engineering and Sound Design for Twelve Ophelias, produced by Woodshed Collective; Production Assistant for Architecting by the TEAM; Production Assistant/Assistant Sound Engineer for Canary, conceived by Ray Rizzo, Molly Rice & Rachel Chavkin; and Discovery Times Square Spy: The Exhibit and The Harry Potter Experience.