The Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Presents
Pulling the Thread: A Clara Barton Story
Community Discussion Series & Folk Music Opera
Local composer Glenn McClure is developing a new folk music opera that draws on a little-known chapter of American history — Clara Barton’s time in Livingston County, New York, where she came to recover from what we now recognize as PTSD after the Civil War, and where she found the clarity and determination to found the American Red Cross.
Through a series of free community discussions across the region, Glenn is inviting the public into the creative process — exploring the themes, the history, and the music as the work takes shape. The project culminates in a full performance in fall 2025.
About the Opera
Clara Barton is remembered as a founder of the American Red Cross and a tireless Civil War nurse — but the years between those chapters of her life are less well known. After the war, Barton came to Dansville, in Livingston County, to recover at a water-cure sanatorium. She was exhausted, grief-stricken, and suffering from what her contemporaries struggled to name and what we now understand as post-traumatic stress.
It was here, in the Genesee Valley, that she began to rebuild — and it was here that the vision for the American Red Cross took root. Pulling the Thread tells that story through folk music, weaving together the personal and the historical, the local and the national.
Glenn McClure’s opera asks: what does it take to recover from witnessing great suffering? What does it mean to transform that experience into lasting humanitarian work? And why does Livingston County’s role in this story deserve to be remembered?
About Glenn McClure
Glenn McClure is a Livingston County-based composer and musician whose work explores the intersection of history, place, and community. Pulling the Thread reflects his ongoing commitment to making art that is rooted in the stories of the Genesee Valley and shaped by the people who live here.
Learn more about Glenn’s work at artforbrains.com.
Community Discussion Series
Before the fall performance, Glenn is holding a series of free community discussions — conversations that are part of the creative process itself. Each event explores the history and themes shaping the opera and invites the audience to participate in how this story gets told.
All events are free to attend. No registration required.
Events
Additional community discussions are planned. Check back for updated dates and locations.
Fall 2025 Performance
The community discussion series leads to a full performance of Pulling the Thread: A Clara Barton Story in fall 2025. Date, venue, and ticketing information will be announced here as details are confirmed.
Performance details coming soon. Sign up for updates
Support
This program is supported in part by the Rochester Area Community Foundation, Dansville ArtWorks, and the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Genesee Valley Council on the Arts.
gvartscouncil.org | 585.243.6785 | info@gvartscouncil.org