Sept. 12-14: Phantom Theater season closes on a musical note

September 4, 2026  |  By Kate Youngdahl Stauss

Cellist Miranda Henne returns to Phantom Theater with legendary fiddler Darol Anger. Courtesy photo

When Boston-based cellist Miranda Henne returns to Warren’s Edgcomb Barn next week, it will be a full-circle moment as she plays in a string quartet with the artist who created the music that would change her life.

“My high school orchestra director, Duane Botterbusch, gave me a CD,” Henne recalled. “He said, 'I think you’re going to like this.’ It was the Turtle Island Quartet.”  The group - which paved the way between classical music and improvisational traditions - became foundational for Henne. Two decades later, she is joining forces with Turtle Island’s legendary fiddler Darol Anger.

“He’s invented sounds and techniques that no one else had ever done, and he’s trained a whole generation of fiddlers,” Henne said. “His sound. The notes he chooses. To hear it coming out of his instrument live, to be in the same room. It’s amazing.”

While Anger shared the Phantom stage with Henne last summer, it was in a world music/bluegrass-inspired group. Joining the pair this year to make it a true string quartet are concertmaster of the Lexington (Massachusetts) Symphony Orchestra, Scott Moore, and violinist Erica Pisaturo of the Cape Ann Symphony.

Henne notes that string quartets have a special sound. The configuration of two violins, viola and cello mirrors the four parts of a human choir, allowing for a rich and emotional musical tone. Though Henne’s quartet technically has three violins, both Anger and Moore have five-string violins, which add the bottom range of a viola.

It might seem intimidating to collaborate with your childhood idol, but Henne says Anger is a generous colleague. “Because of the way Darol is, it’s pretty easy to just relax and get into the music,” she said.

In fact, it can be magical. “Improvisation takes trust. There's an element of spontaneity and really deep listening. And it can be a transcendent experience,” she said.

Henne said she is especially excited to debut this quartet at Phantom Theater, in her seventh visit to the Mad River Valley. “The first year that I came, I was steeped in a feeling of awe,” she recalled. “It was the people that I met, a community that values art. And it’s absolutely beautiful looking out at the land and the hills. So quiet and peaceful.”

She looks forward to reconnecting with the Phantom audience, which has given her “ease, love, support and the possibility for art to happen.”

Performances of the Miranda Henne/Darol Anger Quartet are Saturday-Monday, Sept. 12-14. Saturday’s concert is at 8 p.m.; Sunday and Monday’s are at 7 p.m.

Tickets: $25.

For more information and advance tickets, visit phantomtheater.org.

Kate Youngdahl Stauss is on the board of directors for Phantom Theater.