Barn Music Series presents all-woman ensemble ‘Passage’

BenFeng Music Productions will open its 2026 Barn Music Series with the world premiere of “Passage,” a multidisciplinary two-night, all-women performance. The show runs at 7 p.m. Jan. 23 and 24 at the Old Thompson Barn in Carbondale.

Inspired by Walt Whitman’s sentiment, “I contain multitudes,” the program weaves music, poetry, dance, and song to explore the human spirit through life’s transitions.

“Every music production is one of a kind,” Artistic Director MinTze Wu said, adding that the winter season is a natural time of year to go deeper into “our soul space.”

Led by Wu, the performance spotlights life’s “exquisite transitions” — finding light in darkness, and beauty in chaos. 

The cast includes a trio of dancers and a trio of musicians.

The dancers include Jen Campbell (choreographer), Alyson Boell-Marchand, and Vickey Tobia. The musicians include Wu (artistic director, violin, piano player), Enion Pelta-Tiller (Fadolin, vocals and composer), and Shannon Pennell (vocals).

According to Wu, the cast’s shared backgrounds emerged without intention.

“We are at a similar threshold in our lives, between the ages of 48 and 60, and for dancers we are not in our high time anymore, so it takes even more to push our muscles at a cellular level to really be telling this story through our body and through our songs,” she said. “It’s the best version of what we could plan, but it really came together organically. We are all seasoned in life.” 

The production weaves Campbell’s original choreography with a musical score featuring works by Antonio Vivaldi, Maurice Ravel, Ljova, and India Arie. 

“I dance because it allows me to be who I am,” Campbell said. “At this particular moment in my life, there are monumental pieces moving in the background, and dancing allows me to be with the expansion that is being asked of me. I’m curious about the thresholds we walk through and how they change us.”

The performance also incorporates poetry by Naomi Shihab Nye, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Andrea Gibson, and Lucille Clifton.

For the performers, the show is a space for emotional honesty and shared healing. 

“Singing for me is a tool I always have at my disposal to crack open my shielded heart and the hearts of others, too,” Pennell said in a press release. 

She pointed to Brandi Carlile’s mission to be an “unhardener of hearts” and added, “I sing to move and be moved.”

Original music contributor and performer Pelta-Tiller said in the release, “The promise of continual deepening connection, into and through music, into and through my body, is why I’m alive.”

Wu said the piece embraces complexity. 

“Understanding that beauty is not devoid of hardship and struggles, of grief and loss,” she said. “This piece is embracing them all.”

The setting in the rustic Old Thompson Barn is fitting for a show that dancer Boell-Marchand described as a gift of intentional beauty. 

“Creating dance art — especially in collaboration with others — can be a way of creating ‘good news,’ a way of sharing that things can be good in the world,” Boell-Marchand said.

The venue is located at 333 River Ranch Road in Carbondale. Tickets are $40 for adults, and free for youth under 18. Space is limited, and advance purchase is recommended. Tickets are available at benfengmusicproductions.org/passage.