The Genesee Valley Council on the Arts (GVCA) presents a work-in-progress performance of Pulling the Thread: A Clara Barton Story, a new folk opera by local composer Glenn McClure. The project is funded by a $25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) as part of Celebrating America250: Arts Projects Honoring the National Garden of American Heroes.

Pulling the Thread follows Clara Barton from the Antietam battlefield through her time in Livingston County — a period pivotal to the founding of the American Red Cross. Her legacy was recently celebrated in a civic mural in downtown Dansville, NY, and this project builds on that momentum to uncover local details of her life there.

About the Project

GVCA has commissioned Glenn McClure to create a libretto and musical score, working with local historians, K-12 schools, artists, veterans, and health care professionals to shape the narrative. Drawing from five community dialogues held across Livingston County, workshops at York Central School and Geneseo Central School, and Clara Barton’s own diaries, McClure has developed a libretto and the first stage of a musical setting for this workshop concert.

GVCA hopes to seek additional funding to transform the piece into a fully-fledged opera in 2027. Key choral works will also be distributed to New York State high school and collegiate choral programs to carry Clara’s story beyond the region.

The folk opera weaves together themes of rural resilience, innovation, health care, veterans, and community-based problem solving — themes reflected in the Dansville mural and in imagery of a quilt. Pulling the Thread connects the sewing of a quilt with the sewing up of Civil War wounds, and eventually with the healing work of the Red Cross.

“Growing up in the Genesee Valley, we all heard a couple of facts about what Clara did on Civil War battlefields and in disaster relief. But this project asks the question, ‘Who is Clara for us today?’ In all her complexity, she resonates now as an undaunted female leader, as a public servant, as a brilliant organizer, and most importantly, as a person who sought care to heal from psychological wounds of war. Her diaries reveal much that speaks to our time, and music is a powerful tool to share her story.”
— Glenn McClure

Support

This program is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, along with The Community Foundation, Dansville ArtWorks, Healthy Scratch Partners, and the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts.

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