Yale Schwarzman Center Fall 2026 Season Launch
Yale Schwarzman Center
168 Grove St.
New Haven
Sept. 10, 2026
“There’s a lot of bells ringing,” intoned the toddler next to me.
We were bearing witness Thursday night to the gamelatron, sonic kinetic sculptures created by cross-disciplinary artist Aaron Taylor Kuffer.
This piece, installed at the Yale Schwarzman Center’s Dome, is called “Via Oro,” which means “the way of gold” in Italian. Kuffner came up with the name gamelatron based on gamelan, traditional Indonesian ensemble music.
Soothing melodic notes washed over me as I sank down in my comfortable chair. The Dome had been transformed into a space of coziness with furry ottomans and low-to-the-ground chairs. The only light came from the oculus above. A lady lay completely on her back across a gray ottoman to soak in the sound.
The toddler’s parents had to corral him a few times as he wandered around the dimly lit room, pointing at the ten brass installations – some tower-like gongs, some horizontal like a keyboard –placed evenly around the room. His astute observations were a tad loud, so his mother tried to quiet him down as she looked around the room, embarrassed.
But the calming effect of the gamelatron was so powerful that even a toddler’s interruptions couldn’t break my trance.
Kuffner made it a point to walk over and assuage the mom’s guilt. “Enjoy yourself,” he whispered.
In that moment he was embodying the event’s ethos: invite the community in.
“I created … a sanctuary and respite,” Kuffner said in an interview. “It’s not [an] exhibition where people just pass through. It’s more like, stay as long as you want. The idea is you choose how long you want to stay, and the way in which you want to stay. The exhibition is an offering to edify the well-being of anyone who has the time, willingness, and desire to be here.”
The gamelatron (which runs through Oct. 10) is among the offerings from the Yale Schwarzman Center for their Fall 2026 season. Thursday night was the season launch. Executive Director Rachel Fine said staff have been reimagining what is possible in Schwarzman’s spaces. Upcoming events include esteemed soprano Camille Zamora and Grammy Award-winning composer Chris Thile (Sept. 25-26), Indian-British restaurateur and cookbook author Asma Khan (from Netflix’s Chef’s Table) joining Yale Global Table (Nov. 3), and a holiday extravaganza with powerhouse ensemble Pink Martini All-Stars (Dec. 11). Amidst all of this new programming, the Center will still host their usual events, like the Tasting Series at The Well and EveryBody Dances, their dance class series; this Sunday they’re teaching the iconic “Thriller” dance. (All Schwarzman Center artistic offerings are free.)
Earlier Thursday, they installed a skating rink in the Commons, where students usually dine, for a roller-skating disco and a performance by Montreal-based skate company Le Patin Libre. Le Patin Libre brought their unique fusion of dance and skating, pulling off tricks that would make me fear for my life.
It was a party as people skated joyfully around the rink saturated in neon lights, underneath the disco ball glistening overhead. I, unfortunately, couldn’t join them as I foolishly forgot socks. (I was wearing sandals because contrary to popular belief it is still summer.)
Since I couldn’t skate, I left the excitement of the disco to soothe my disappointed nervous system with the gamelatron.
As I lay back in the chair, the oscillating notes felt like they were tickling my mind like brain enhancing binaural beats. The music moved in waves, ebbing and flowing as the notes gradually built up before descending back down.
“Sound is a physical force [that] is actually felt in your entire body,” said Kuffner. “I make these sculptures in order to have acoustic resonance in people’s lives. To have that as part of their body’s diet.”
He wasn’t lying. In about five minutes of sitting there, my entire body relaxed from my scalp down to my toes. The gamelatron, which is technically made up of about 40 software powered instruments, plays its tunes on about an hour loop. I just needed 20 minutes; any longer, and I may have fallen peacefully asleep.
In the 20 years that Kuffner has been making gamelatrons, over 100 have been installed all over the world. Years ago, even the inimitable Bjork caught on and wanted to use the gamelatron for her song “Crystalline” on her Biophilia concept album. Unfortunately, it didn’t work though she sounded great with the gamelatron; the addition of other more traditional instruments muddled the sound.
It’s clear that the gamelatron is not made for convention. Yale Schwarzman Center, however, plans on using it for other creative means; they will host meditation and yoga sessions in the Dome to accompany the sonic sculpture.
I left wishing I could install the gamelatron in my home. I know the cats would love it.
Find out more about Yale Schwarzman Center community events here.
