Aster Montessori
Artists in Residence
The Afield
2017-2019
The Afield is a multidisciplinary collaboration between violinist Rebecca Fischer and visual artist Anthony Hawley. Combining new and original compositions for violin, voice, and electronics with video and other media, The Afield is dedicated to exploring the space between sound and sight. The Afield has commissioned works by composers such as Nico Muhly, Paola Prestini, Lisa Bielawa, Augusta Read Thomas, Byron Au Yong and others, and has premiered work at National Sawdust in New York, the HIFA festival for the Arts in Zimbabwe, and Bay Chamber Concerts in Maine.
Rebecca Fischer is the founding first-violinist of the “truly breathtaking” (Washington Post) Chiara String Quartet, now in its seventeenth year. With the quartet she has won numerous awards and has performed throughout the world, recording for the New Amsterdam and Azica Record labels. In addition to teaching at The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Harvard University, and Greenwood Music Camp, she has given workshops as a teaching artist in schools and communities around the United States. Rebecca holds degrees from Columbia University and The Juilliard School, and she writes regularly on the subject of creativity.
Anthony Hawley is an artist equally adept in the mediums of installation, video, sculpture, drawing, and writing. His art has won him residencies and awards from The MacDowell Colony, The Hermitage Artist Retreat, and VCCA, among others. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States as well as in Italy and Malta, and his writing on art has been featured in numerous art and poetry journals such as The Brooklyn Rail, Hyperallergic, Modern Painters, and The Paris Review. Anthony holds degrees from the School for Visual Arts and Columbia University and has taught at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and The School of Visual Arts in New York City.