The 2026 Firebird Residency invited Firebirds to stand on the edge of harmony: the place where beauty, tension, courage and change meet. Alongside a number of larger ensemble works, they created seven ‘Tiny Desk’ style performances, each paired with a local artist from the Antioquia region.
Through rehearsals, conversations, and performance, the hope was for Firebirds to model the kinds of mindsets and skills we want our students to learn: such as how to hold complexity, how to meet difference without fear and how to transform tension into imagination and connection rather than avoidance or harm.
AMAZÔNIA:
Dara Mirabal,
@fundacionmusicalbravura - Violin
Flor Elena Ruiz Roa,
@filarmed - Flute
Luiz Henrique Moreira,
@aprendizmusica - Violin
Natalia Ortega Tavares,
@sou.guri - Cello
Paulo Silva dos Santos,
@neojiba - Tenor Trombone
The 5 Firebirds had the opportunity to learn about traditional Colombian weaving from Natalia Castaño
@nathcastano whose practice is devoted to rescuing oral tradition as a form of collective memory. Her work explores how individual stories become shared histories through encounter, thread and time.
