Artist-in-Residence Jane Niebling

What makes an artist’s hand recognizable? How is it that we can spot certain illustrators' work a mile away? Even if we haven’t seen a drawing before, we can tell it is by M.C. Escher or Maurice Sendak or Saul Steinberg or Leonardo da Vinci.

Our Artist-in-Residence this summer is Jane Niebling and the program is filled with drawings in her inimitable style. Does anyone in Newburyport need an introduction to Jane? Co-Founder of the festival with me back 2001, Jane still keeps an eye on everything NCMF-related.

I’ve always been a fan of Jane’s quirky artwork and her hand is uniquely her own. You might remember the twelve iconic birds for “Avian Microludes” (2024 commission for theremin and quartet). This summer, she even did renderings of each NCMF board member, and if you join the board, you too can be immortalized by Jane (seriously, email me if you are interested…).

The cover of the program features Beethoven in all his brooding glory. Notwithstanding the emphasis on American music this summer, a late Beethoven quartet can’t help but occupy a central position. I’ll save most of the paintings as a surprise for when you leaf through the program, but above is a rendering of this year’s Composer-in-Residence; below, a titan of American music.

‍David Yang, Artistic Director