In this hour-long presentation, artist-in-residence Liz Knowles and award-winning author Ben Shattuck talk about how Shattuck’s writing, the New England seascape and existence on the fringes of genre and sound have influenced Knowles’ music-making. These types of intimate conversations are a unique opportunity to dive into the creative process, engage in a Q&A and be ready for a surprise guest or two!
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Liz Knowles, fiddle
Liz Knowles’ fascination with music has always been rooted in how one can arrive, land, and leave a note. Her early foundations were in classical music but her discovery of Irish music connected the dots between memories of her grandfather’s singing, a lifelong exploration of modal melodies in Early music, and the “In-Between”, a life theme for Liz that illuminates the challenge and vitality of the liminal places in life and music.
Liz has established herself as a dynamic performer and recording artist as soloist on the soundtrack for “Michael Collins”, fiddler with “Riverdance”, Broadway’s “The Pirate Queen” and “The Green Bird”, soloist with the New York Pops and featured artist for the Ireland 100 Festival at the Kennedy Center. She was music director and producer for several stage shows and recording projects that toured Europe, Asia and South America. Her compositions and arrangements of tunes and songs have been recorded by John Whelan, Flook, Chicago’s Metropolis Symphony Orchestra, Liz Carroll, Beolach, Bachue, J.P. Cormier, Michael Black, John Doyle, and Ensemble Galilei. In addition to serving on the faculty at the New England Conservatory, she has an active online teaching schedule of lessons, seminars, and presentations on various topics, some of which have been presented by organizations such as New York’s Irish Arts Center, and Music Network Ireland and is a highly sought after teacher in the Irish music world both here in the United States and abroad.
Liz has composed and produced music for two exhibits featuring Irish art first at the Art Institute in Chicago as well as two commissioned pieces for Notre Dame’s Snite Museum and for a book release later this year. She and Liz Carroll produce a podcast called “The Lizzes Podcast” and Season 2 is due out in the spring of 2024. She currently tours with her trio Open the Door for Three, The String Sisters, The Martin Hayes Quartet, and a new trio with Niall Vallely and Niwel Tsumbu.
Ben Shattuck
Ben Shattuck, a former Teaching-Writing Fellow and graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, is a recipient of the PEN America Short Story Prize and a 2019 Pushcart Prize.
Shattuck’s first book, Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau (Tin House, 2022) was a New Yorker magazine Best Book of 2022, a Wall Street Journal Best Book of Spring, a New York Times Best Book of Summer, a New England Indie Bestseller, and a finalist for the Massachusetts Book Award. His second book, The History of Sound: Stories, was published by Viking in 2024, and was a Chicago Tribune 10 Best Books of 2024, a Kirkus Reviews Best Short Fiction, and was longlisted for the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. He lives with his wife and daughter on the coast of Massachusetts, where he owns and runs the oldest general store in America, built in 1793. He is also the founder and director of the Cuttyhunk Island Writers’ Residency.
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