The Fourth Wall

The Fourth Wall’s mission is to create programming that engages everyone from elementary school children to classical performance connoisseurs through a new hybrid of the performing arts in which musicians are also actors and dancers. 

In a theater, breaking the fourth wall brings the world on stage directly into the audience; as an ensemble, The Fourth Wall, breaks the barrier between serious art and serious fun.

The Fourth Wall inspires and delights audiences all over the country with their hybrid arts performances in venues ranging from elementary school cafe-gymnatoriums to performing arts centers to (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York. A favorite at Fringe theatre festivals, the trio has sold out shows in Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and Orlando where they received Patrons’ Pick and Critics’ Choice awards for their vaudeville-inspired show, “Fruit Flies Like a Banana.” The Fourth Wall won the 2014 Savvy Musician in Action chamber music competition and was presented at the innovative music entrepreneurship retreat as performers and workshop leaders. The Fourth Wall has been featured on five National Flute Association annual conventions with gala performances, recitals, and their audience interactive project, “Mixer.” Collaborating with conductor Victoria Gau, The Fourth Wall created an orchestral hybrid arts performance that was premiered with the Capital City Symphony in 2013.

Collaboration has been a key element of The Fourth Wall’s work from the very beginning. The Boston Composers’ Coalition chose the ensemble for their inaugural concert in 2010, bringing together six composers plus a student composer to create new works for the unconventional trio.

Since then, The Fourth Wall has reached out to composers from around the world for new music; developed new choreography as members of Windfall Dancers in Bloomington, IN; and created a body of winter holiday repertoire working with the Phoenix Theatre of Indianapolis. In January 2016, The Fourth Wall was invited to participate in the second New Music Gathering, earning a picture in the Wall Street Journal and credit for their “deft choreography.”

The Fourth Wall offers workshops, masterclasses, and performances that teach students how to incorporate interdisciplinary performance techniques into their creative work. The trio has been in residence at the Universities of Alaska, South Carolina, and Virginia; presented masterclasses and lectures at the Oberlin Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, and Rice University among others; and performed for various Percussive Arts and Flute Societies. The Fourth Wall is Ensemble-in-Residence for the International Flute Symposium and are teaching artists for Indiana’s Arts for Learning program.

Members of The Fourth Wall have attended The Eastman School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Ohio University, Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, and the Boston Conservatory.