Greenfield resident Michael Nix is bringing a decades-long career that has taken him around the world to the Wendell Meetinghouse for an upcoming artist residency. The 72-year-old musician will feature his New Classic Banjo Project at the rustic venue, located at 1 Morse Village Road, for four programs running from July 21 to July 26.
“Residency is a good way for people to understand sort of the breadth of my work and my art. So, you know, that’s the overarching idea,” he said at his School Street office. “And Wendell specifically, it’s local, and … at the same time, I was trying to figure out how to pull [together] these activities that I’m doing in these different national forums or international forums.”
The New Classic Banjo Project kicks off at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 21 with a PowerPoint presentation titled “Design and Commission of a 7-String Banjar,” focusing on an instrument of Nix’s own design. Admission to the event is by donation.
“I started by playing classical music on nylon-string, 19th-century banjos,” he explained. “And then I decided, well, you know, it doesn’t do what I can do on the guitar and lute. So I wanted to add two more strings so I could keep a bass going below what was happening in the melody. So, and that way, on the regular five-string banjos, I can maybe get two voices going on at the same time.
“The first one was [in] 2003, and I had somebody manufacture it based on 19th-century designs, and I played it for 20 years solo and with The Pioneer Consort,” he continued, mentioning the music ensemble comprised of himself, Chris Devine and Mark Fraser. “And then figured out, ‘Oh, OK, there’s some tweaks I can make to this that will make it better. So that’s what I’m going to talk about.”
Nix is also the owner of NixWorks, a full-service music company providing performances and instruction on guitar, banjo, mandolin and, of course, his signature banjar. His lifelong career has taken him through Asia, Europe and across the United States.
The second program of the New Classic Banjo Project, also available by donation, features a presentation titled “Commissioning a Bespoke Instrument and Compositions” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 23.
“Say you come up with the idea for an instrument and you don’t want to make it out of a cigar box — How do you approach the top guy in the country with your design? What can you ask him to do?” Nix explained. “Or, you know, say you know … you need a song for your new album that’s going to kick it off — How you’re going to do that?”
The third program is a full-length concert of Nix’s original compositions, including pieces from his album “Aperçu,” produced by Big Round Records, which is part of the PARMA Recordings family in New Hampshire. The concert is slated to start at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 25. Tickets are $20 at the door, $15 in advance through tinyurl.com/MichaelNixTix, and $10 through the state’s Card to Culture program.
“Michael Nix is an innovator,” Court Dorsey, board president of the Friends of the Wendell Meetinghouse, said in a statement. “As he morphs the banjo into a 7-nylon-stringed instrument, he re-imagines music itself, bringing the banjo into the classical repertoire with overtones of folk, jazz and world music. As a banjo player myself, I can’t wait to hear what he does and learn how he’s done it.”
The residency’s fourth program, running from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 26 is a workshop designed for banjo players. Tickets are $25 at the door, $20 in advance through tinyurl.com/MichaelNixTix and $10 through the state’s Card to Culture program.
“Say you’re an amateur banjo player and you’re interested in sort of bolstering your techniques,” Nix explained.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Wendell Meetinghouse, the residency is part of the Community Arts & Conversations series, which is supported in part by grant funding from the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts (CFNCM) and its Community Enrichment grant program. The initiative is designed to present high-quality, accessible performances while fostering meaningful engagement between artists/performers and the community.
The 2026 Wendell Meetinghouse Performer Series Residencies are arts and creative initiatives that aim to broaden perspectives or understanding, build community connections and engagement, celebrate and support local performers and introduce new community members to the Wendell Meetinghouse. These events are also expected to capitalize on newly installed theatrical lights and sound capacities, and to promote creative use of the Meetinghouse space across diverse genres for community benefit.
“I think … the big thing I wanted to impart is the importance of using a residency to delve deeper into my work for somebody who’s trying to understand what I’m trying to do,” he said. “So if people come to each of these little bits, they can get a pretty good read on how I’ve thought about the development of my art over time.”
A military brat who spent his summers in New Hampshire, Nix started his musical journey with violin lessons in third grade.
“Then it was almost interrupted by Little League Baseball … and then classical piano, and then I heard the Beatles,” he recounted. “So like sixth, seventh grade, it’s like, ‘I want a guitar.’ So I did that, and then I got good very quickly. [I] had a very good teacher — jazz guitarist who taught me to read and the rudiments of music.”
