Stories from
a creative community.
The cover story / September 10, 2026
Before a choral work reaches an audience, there is a story only its creators can tell.
R. Wayne Walters and Father Kenneth E. Lasch reflect on the friendship and written inspiration behind Ode to the Sea. Their conversation follows the connections between memory, the sea and a composition brought to life by the Morris Choral Society.
Read the storyA note from the journal
There are people behind every performance, relationships behind every organization, and moments of belief behind new work.
This is where we follow those connections: the artists finding their voice, the communities making room for them, and the supporters helping the next chapter take shape.
From Masterwork’s social notebook / September 2026
New invitations and creative connections, selected from the news Masterwork shares with its community.
On the calendar / Shared by Masterwork
The Hudson Valley Dance Festival brings performances to Historic Catskill Point on October 10, 2026, benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS through its Dancers Responding to AIDS program.
Coming from New York City? The organizer also offers a day-trip option. Check its website for tickets, travel details and the latest program.
Festival details & ticketsFrom the archive / Shared August 13, 2026
Contemporary dance, visual art and live music meet in Fadi Joseph Khoury’s Live Painting announcement, shared by Masterwork in a spotlight on Community Arts Award recipient FJK Dance.
The program was announced for August 20 at Arts On Site in New York, with live music by Mal Stein. Its original poster captures the connection between Khoury’s movement and visual practice.
Follow that thread into Masterwork’s Emerging Artist Award and the work of an artist moving across disciplines.
Meet Fadi Joseph Khoury
01 / In the wings
Theatre & new writing
Read the theatre spotlight ↗Premiere Stages / August 28, 2026
A new play needs more than a script. It needs a place to become theatre.
Masterwork’s spotlight on John Wooten’s Flawless offers a way into the work of Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Kean University.
Through its Play Festival, Premiere Stages develops new writing through readings and professional production. The process gives playwrights something essential: the opportunity to hear their words in a room with actors and an audience.
Discover Flawless02 / Field notes
A museum. A care facility. A campus bridge. A shared performance. The 2026 Community Arts Awards support four different ways to bring people into an artistic experience.
Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra’s quartet brings live music to the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum’s Decennial, placing one art form in conversation with another.
The Masterwork Chorus’s Reach Out program brings performances to Morris County care facilities, taking music beyond the traditional concert hall.
Found Sound Circle’s Sound Bridges project centers the bridge at Bettenbender Plaza at Rutgers, connecting sound, a shared space and the people who encounter it.
FJK Dance’s To Heart brings dance and multimedia into dialogue with Rumi’s poetry, opening another route into a shared artistic experience.
03 / In conversation
A Life in the Arts makes space for the experience behind a creative career. Meet two people whose contributions reach far beyond the stage.
Enter the interview collection
Arts leadership / Watch the interview
Connecting an orchestra to its community through performance, educational programs and relationships.
Music & education / Watch the interview
A soloist, composer, conductor and educator whose work spans concert audiences, classrooms and community choirs.
The reading list
Follow a subject, revisit a story, or find your way into the work behind the news.
An October 10 invitation shared by Masterwork, with performances in Catskill and a day-trip option.
A friendship, a letter and the inspiration behind R. Wayne Walters’ choral work.
John Wooten’s play offers a window into a producing partner dedicated to new writing.
Original artwork from an evening connecting contemporary dance, visual art and live music.
Meet the Play Festival finalists supported at different stages, from public reading to full production.
Masterwork honors R. Wayne Walters at its 65th Anniversary Celebration.
A conversation with the Executive Director of the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra.
Music, movement and shared spaces bring the arts into different parts of community life.
The story continues
Get closer to the artists and organizations Masterwork supports. Discover the awards behind the work, or help make the next creative chapter possible.