While Handel wrote Deidamia at a tipping point in his career, composing music of psychological intensity and emotional restraint, Hendrix redefined the electric guitar as an instrument of risk, distortion, and transcendence. Neither played it safe. Both changed everything.

All ticket-holders are invited to join us for a glass of champagne at the post-show reception in the lobby. VIP ticket-holders get exclusive access to a pre-show reception as well.

Proceeds from the evening benefit Handel Hendrix House America, which supports the educational programs, concerts, conservation, and exhibitions at Handel Hendrix House and presents programs in the United States.

December 2–4 Residency | Performance: Saturday, December 5 | Doors at 7pm | Performance at 8pm

This residency supports the development of a new production of Deidamia by R.B. Schlather with Ruckus Early Music, commissioned by the historic Hudson Opera House.

This performance is seated. If you require accessibility accommodations, please email boxoffice@nationalsawdust.org.

ABOUT DITHER

DITHER, a New York based electric guitar quartet, is dedicated to an eclectic mix of experimental repertoire which spans composed, improvised, and electronic music. Formed in 2007, the quartet has performed across the United States and abroad, presenting new commissions, original compositions, multimedia works, and large guitar ensemble pieces. Dither’s members are Taylor Levine, Joshua Lopes, James Moore, and Brendon Randall-Myers.

Dither has performed and collaborated with a wide range of artists including Eve Beglarian, Nels Cline, Fred Frith, Mary Halvorson, David Lang, Ikue Mori, Phill Niblock, Lee Ranaldo, Laurie Spiegel, Lois V. Vierk, Yo La Tengo, and John Zorn. They have brought their live 13-guitar rendition of Steve Reich's Electric Counterpoint to The Barbican Center, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, The Ellnora Guitar Festival and WNYC's New Sounds Live. The quartet has also performed at the Guggenheim Museum, the Bang on a Can Marathon, The Performa Biennial, The Amsterdam Electric Guitar Heaven Festival, Hong Kong's Fringe Theater, The Winter Jazz Festival, and the Borealis Festival.

Dither produces an annual Extravaganza, a raucous festival of creative music and art, which has been called an "official concert on the edge" by the New Yorker and "the here and now of New York's postclassical music scene" by Time Out New York. They have released four full-length albums, including Dither plays Zorn on Tzadik, featuring the premiere recordings of several of John Zorn's improvisational game pieces, which was named one of the year's “best avant albums” by Rolling Stone.

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ABOUT R.B. SCHLATHER

R.B. Schlather is an American artist, opera director, producer, and designer associated with immersive installations and unconventional stagings that push the boundaries of traditional operatic performance. His work has been praised for challenging norms and creating new and engaging experiences for audiences.

Hailed by The New York Times as “one of our more ambitious and effective younger directors,” he has directed critically acclaimed performances for Oper Frankfurt (Amor vien dal destino, Macbeth, Madama Butterfly, Tamerlano, L’Italiana in Londra), Santa Fe Opera (Così fan tutte), Los Angeles Philharmonic (Fluxconcert), Opera Philadelphia (David Hertzberg’s The Wake World), and Boston Lyric Opera (Philip Glass’ In the Penal Colony). His staging of The Mother of Us All at the Hudson Opera House was named one of the best performances of 2017 by The New York Times. Upcoming engagements include new productions for the Royal Ballet & Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Irish National Opera, and Den Norske Opera & Ballett. Schlather is currently developing a Handel series at the historic Hudson Opera House in Hudson, NY. Previous work at National Sawdust includes Philip Glass’ Madrigal Opera, Vasco Mendonça’s The House Taken Over, and Handel’s Ariodante.‍

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ABOUT RUCKUS

Ruckus is a shapeshifting, collaborative baroque ensemble with a visceral and playful approach to early music. Described as “the world’s only period-instrument rock band” (San Francisco Classical Voice), Ruckus’ core is a continuo group, the baroque equivalent of a jazz rhythm section: guitars, keyboards, cello, bassoon and bass. The NYC-based ensemble aims to fuse the early-music movement’s questing, creative spirit with the grit, groove and jangle of American roots music, creating a unique sound of “rough-edged intensity” (New Yorker) that’s “achingly delicate one moment, incisive and punchy the next” (New York Times). The group’s members are among the most creative and virtuosic performers in North American early music.

Ruckus is the house band for Hudson Hall’s baroque opera productions, directed by R.B. Schlather. The New York Times’ Zachary Woolfe wrote: “Ruckus aptly describes itself as a band: it’s that tight, and that wild.” Ruckus’ next productions at Hudson Hall will be Handel’s final opera, Deidamia (April 2027) and a staged Messiah (December 2027).

Ruckus’ 2026-27 highlights include: a residency at Yale University’s Schwarzman Center and a return to The Frick Collection in a program of American Hymns; debut at Boston Early Music Festival in February 2027 with the music of Heinrich Biber; and the cantatas of Elisabeth-Jacquet de la Guerre at the Met Cloisters in May 2027.

Ruckus’ debut album, Fly the Coop, a collaboration with flutist Emi Ferguson, was Billboard’s #2 Classical album upon its release. Performances of Fly the Coop have been described as “a fizzing, daring display of personality and imagination” (New York Times). The Boston Musical Intelligencer describes the group as taking continuo playing to “not simply a new level, but a revelatory new dimension of dynamism altogether… an eruption of pure, pulsing hoedown joy.” In the spring of 2025, the band released The Edinburgh Rollick (featuring violinist Keir GoGwilt) bringing new life to the tunes of Neil Gow, one of Scotland’s most important 18th-century composers. Praised as “a perfect meeting of folk repertoire and ancient instruments “ (Le Canard Folk), music from the album will be featured in The Jack of Spades, an upcoming feature film directed by Joel Coen.

In 2026, to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Ruckus joined Davóne Tines in a national tour entitled “What is Your Hand in This?” The program, commissioned by Carnegie Hall, asks: How can we passionately address wrongs while coexisting as a people? Can we find compassion for others? Can we find compassion for ourselves? The repertoire spans 400 years of early American music, including new works written by Ruckus’ own Douglas Balliett. Washington Classical Review, reviewing the program’s world premiere, stated “There will be many commemorations of America in this anniversary year, but few will match the creativity, commitment, and insight Tines and Ruckus brought to “What is Your Hand in This?"