Decoda and Ringdown to draw on interconnectedness March 31 in Recital Hall

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (Tuesday, March 17, 2026)—Contemporary chamber music collective Decoda will explore the boundaries of classical and folk genres with special guest vocal duo Ringdown. The program, “Reverberations,” will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, in Recital Hall.

Decoda will perform Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” in a collaboration with students from the Penn State School of Music, a unit of the College of Arts and Architecture. As part of that public performance, “We’re going to be working with four students … and doing a side-by-side, collaborative rehearsal process,” State College native and Decoda Co-Artistic Director Clara Lyon said.

After the performance, the artists will speak with interested audience members.

Reserved-seat tickets are $56 for an adult, $19 for those 18 and younger, and$19 for a University Park student. Tickets are available online, by phone at 814-863-0255, or in person, weekdays 10 a.m.– 4 p.m., at Eisenhower Auditorium. Ticket prices are inclusive of fees and taxes. Save $4 per ticket when ordering by phone or in person at the Arts Ticket Center. The Center for the Performing Arts and the Arts Ticket Center are parts of the College of Arts and Architecture.

Visit Decoda online for more information about free engagement events and to buy tickets.

Decoda artist Clara Lyon: ‘Think bigger’

Decoda features alumni from Ensemble Connect (artists from Carnegie Hall and The Juilliard School) and is the only affiliate of Carnegie Hall. Portland, Ore.-based Ringdown blends classical roots with contemporary storytelling in its cinematic, electro-pop vocal stylings.

The Center for the Performing Arts spoke with State College native and Decoda Co-Artistic Director Clara Lyon in a recent virtual visit. With a return to the community where her journey began, Lyon said she is eager to bridge her professional performance with her desire to collaborate and mentor new artists. She said she invites everyone to think bigger about their art, their impact and the lives they want to shape through creativity.

“I hope that the audience leaves with a greater sense of interconnectedness,” Lyon said. “Every single piece in the program really speaks to each other, musically and aesthetically. … The true purse of being an artist is the way is changes how you live.”

“Reverberations” explores the links between inspiration and imagination and the interconnected web of musical influence and features two works by Aaron Copland that aim to reinvent folk material. The program will include:

• Aaron Copland, “Midday Thoughts” for Solo Piano (1944, rev. 1982)
• Hanns Eisler, Septet No. 1, Op. 92a (1940)
• Woody Guthrie/Billy Bragg, “Eisler on the Go “(arr. Claire Bryant) (1949/1998)
• Ringdown (with Decoda), Set of Four Short Works: “Reckoning,” “Run,” “Thirst,” and “I Won’t Go” (2024–25)
• Ringdown, “Every Stone in Cambridge Reminds Me of You” (2024)
• Copland, “Appalachian Spring” suite for 13 instruments (1945/1970), featuring students from Penn State School of Music

Watch Decoda perform Valerie Coleman’s “Revelry.” Watch Ringdown perform “Reckoning.”

Free engagement events

A Very Open Rehearsal

4:30–6:30 p.m. Monday, March 30

Recital Hall

Get an inside look at the artist rehearsal process as Decoda and Penn State School of Music students as they prepare to perform “Appalachian Spring” on March 31 with graduate student musicians.

The free event is open to the entire campus and community. No registration required. Visit A Very Open Rehearsal online for more information.

Music as a Meeting Place

10 a.m.–noon Tuesday, March 31

Recital Hall

Watch an interactive session where Decoda that helps to prepare Penn State music students by examining the nature of a nontraditional musical experience and how they are designed and facilitated.

Drawing on Decoda’s work in concert halls and community settings—including hospitals, shelters, prisons and schools—the ensemble will share how they structure meaningful, inclusive musical encounters rooted in listening, relationship and creativity.

The free event is open to the entire campus and community. No registration required. Visit Music as a Meeting Place online for more information.

“From Sketches to Sound: Collaboration and Composition with Ringdown and Decoda”

12:05–1:20 p.m. Tuesday, March 31

110 Music Building I

This artist-student session explores collaboration as a core compositional practice, tracing the journey from initial sketch to realized sound through performer-composer dialogue. Ringdown and Decoda will consider collaboration as an essential practice rooted in curiosity, trust, process, relationship, and experimentation.

The free event is open to the entire campus and community. No registration required. Visit “From Sketches to Sound” online for more information.

For fans of

Grammy Award-nominated musician and State College native Clara Lyon

Penn State student success

Come-as-you-are cinematic chamber and vocal music

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw

Collaborations between artists and students

Roomful of Teeth and Sō Percussion

Acknowledgments

Support is provided by Nina C. Brown Endowment, Norma and Ralph Condee Chamber Music Endowment, and Pieter and Lida Ouwehand Endowment.

Accessibility services are supported by Sidney and Helen S. Friedman Endowment.

A grant from the University Park Fee Board makes Penn State student prices possible.

Find us

The Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State, a unit of the College of Arts & Architecture, spires to create connected, sustainable, and equitable communities, where everyone experiences joy, belonging and creativity.

For more information, visit Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.