Saratoga Springs History Museum Presents “A Song of Yaddo: Music of Katrina Trask”

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Springs History Museum will present “A Song of Yaddo: Music of Katrina Trask,” a special musical program celebrating the life and creative legacy of Yaddo founder Katrina Trask.

The performance—scheduled for March 19 at 7 p.m. at the Canfield Casino—will feature soprano Eileen Egan Mack and pianist Michael Clement, who will present a program highlighting Trask’s musical work as a composer and lyricist. While widely known as a philanthropist and cultural patron, Trask was also an accomplished writer and musician whose artistic contributions are less recognized.

The evening’s program will include several songs written by Trask, as well as works created through collaborations with composers of her era. In many of these collaborations, Trask served as lyricist for musical settings composed by fellow musicians, including R. Nathaniel Dett, a pioneering Black composer and musical innovator. The program will also feature music by Trask’s contemporaries, including Victor Herbert and Sergei Rachmaninoff, providing context for the musical landscape of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 

Interwoven throughout the performance will be biographical reflections on Trask’s life and artistic circle, offering audiences a deeper understanding of the beliefs and personal experiences that shaped her work.

The program is made possible through the research of Rumara Jewett, whose work has uncovered a wealth of historical material about Katrina Trask’s musical contributions.

The performance will last approximately 50–60 minutes.

For tickets and additional information, visit: https://www.saratogahistory.org/events/a-song-of-yaddo-music-of-katrina-trask-with-eileen-mack-and-michael-clement.