Experience the uniquely American sounds of shape note music with a three-part screening of Holy Manna performed by the early music ensemble Ruckus in collaboration with bass-baritone John Taylor Ward.

The Clark will release Part two on January 15, and the series ends with John Taylor Ward and Ruckus ensemble leader and bassoonist Clay Zeller-Townson in a live Zoom conversation on January 22 at 6 p.m. Get tickets »

Ruckus includes John Taylor Ward, bass-baritone; Emi Ferguson on flutes; Priscilla Herreid on oboe and recorders; Clay Zeller-Townson on bassoon and tenor oboe; Rachell Ellen Wong on violin; Loren Ludwig on viols; Doug Balliett on bass viol; Paul Holmes Morton on theorbo and banjo; Elliot Figg on organ and harpsichord.

Ruckus is a baroque band with a reputation as a compelling voice, fusing the early music movement’s questing, creative spirit with the grit, groove, and jangle of American roots music. Ruckus’s core members form a continuo section, the baroque equivalent of a rhythm section: guitars, keyboards, cello, viola da gamba, bassoon, and bass. From this core, the ensemble expands into a variety of formations with creative performers of old instruments.

John Taylor Ward’s work weaves together performance, scholarship, and community. Originally from Boone, North Carolina, he has kept his connection to rural music and communities. His passion led him to a doctorate at the Yale School of Music, where his research focused on the performance practice of shape note music, and to symphony halls, cabarets and learning institutions around the world.

Each Friday, Clark Connects will release a concert film captured in a live performance at the Clark last autumn.