Broadcasting live from PS21's Winter Festival The Dark. Ben LaMar Gay performs Cold Was the Ground at the Crandell Theater in Chatham, NY. Introduced by Norman Douglas, host of Good Night, Norman.

Ben LaMar Gay is a composer and cornetist who moves sound, color, and space through folkloric filters to produce electro-acoustic collages. A Chicago native, Ben’s true technique is giving life to an idea while exploring and expanding on the term ‘Americana.’ With his band, the Ben LaMar Gay Quartet, he will dive into the hypnotism of their cosmopolitan blues, with old and new tales as well as selections from their latest release Yowzers via International Anthem. This work represents a leap forward in the lexicon of Gay’s recorded output and a veritable masterwork of ancient inner-body rhythms and intuitive melodic storytelling. The quartet consists of Ben LaMar Gay on cornet, electronics, and vocals; Tommaso Moretti on drums; Edinho Gerber on guitar; and Katie Ernst on bass.

The Dark is a new annual festival from PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance that celebrates and elevates the depths of winter. Taking place February 16–22, 2026, the festival will unfold at PS21 and across Columbia County—in theatres, restaurants, libraries, saunas, and outdoor public spaces. Featuring more than 60 international artists and over 80 performances, The Dark offers a packed week of world-class contemporary performance, installation, music, dance, and theatre—all exploring winter as a time of community and solitude, fire and ice, darkness and light. A major new attraction for the region, the festival positions Columbia County as a year-round cultural destination—not just a summer one. It is a light in the dark—and The Dark is the light.