2025 Yaddo Summer Benefit

Natalie Merchant is a multi-platinum-selling, American singer-songwriter and producer known for her distinctive voice and captivating literary-pop songs. She has released several critically acclaimed albums, including Tigerlily and Ophelia, and has received numerous awards and nominations for her work. Her music blends folk, rock, and world music influences, and she continues to be regarded as a pioneering figure in alternative music. Her latest record, Keep Your Courage, finds Merchant in peak form with songs about love and human connection in its many forms, and a voice to keep you hanging on every word.

Oliver Wadsworth is an acclaimed actor whose work spans stage, film, and television. He toured nationally with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and appeared Off-Broadway in Well (The Public Theater), Sideways, Endpapers, and Bread and Roses. Regional work includes performances at the Old Globe, Seattle Rep, Long Wharf, Arizona Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Denver Center, and Dorset Theatre Festival in Peter and the Starcatcher, An Enemy of the People, Shipwrecked (AriZoni Award), and Stones in His Pockets (Metroland Best Performance). Screen credits: Deliver Us from Evil, Ed’s Next Move, Dotty Gets Spanked, The Blacklist, Law & Order: SVU.