Styled heading

Living Among…
Reflections on Solitude and Nature

Violinist Sarah Off and mezzo soprano Alice Simmons, with special guest guitarist, pianist and composer Dylan Fixmer, present an evening of art music and folk song highlighting human connections to nature, and the solace and solitude found in “Living Among” the wild.

This concert will feature the world premiere of “Songs of Skellig Catherine” with music by Dylan Fixmer and words by Catherine Merrigan, telling one woman’s experiences of being a caretaker of Skellig Michael Island off the southwest coast of Ireland. 

Based in Colorado, USA, violinist Dr. Sarah Off has established herself as an innovative and passionate performer, entrepreneur and educator. Her performances have been described as “receiving rapturous reception” (The Times, London), “brilliant and seamless with great focus” (AZ State Press) and “intuitively talented” (Bridge Initiative). As a soloist and chamber musician she regularly performs throughout the United States and abroad including recent performances at Iceland’s Harpa International Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival in Vermont, Music in the Mountains Festival and Crested Butte Music Festival, “Oh My Ears” New Music Festival in Arizona, and the DiMenna Center in New York City. Sarah serves as Assistant Professor of Violin and Music Business at the University of Northern Colorado. 

Based in Wiltshire, mezzo soprano Alice Simmons teaches singing and performs classical and folk music from early and baroque to the present day. Recent engagements include Alto soloist in Bach’s B minor mass and the Magnificat with Phoenix Choir and Baroque Orchestra, and the Modulus Quartet, lute song with Musicke in the Ayre in St Mary’s Bathwick, and recording a set of folk influenced winter songs, with co-writer Paul Elwood and other instrumentalists in Colorado. She also enjoys where music meets other art forms and has performed in works by Tino Sehgal and Leonor Serrano Rivas.